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NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

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THF 


PRESERVATION  OF 
THE  HERMITAGE 

18    8    9-1915 

ANNALS,   HISTORY,  AND  STORIES 


TKe  Acquisition,  Restoration, 
and  Care  of  tKe  Home  of  Gen- 
eral Andrew  Jackson  hy  tKe 
Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
for  over  a  Quarter  of  a  Century 


MRS.    MARY    C.    DORRIS 


CopyrigKt,  1915 
By  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris 


Bo 

The  Memory  of 

MRS.  MARY  L  BAXTER.  Regent 
MRS.  ALBERT  S.  MARKS,  Acting  Regent 
i  MRS.  J.  BERRIEN  LINDSLET.  Regent 

<W»  This  Lttle  Volume  Is  Affection- 

"^  ately  De<jicate<i 


5 

a 


Ladies  of  the  Hermitage  Association:  The 
home  of  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  has  been  in- 
trusted to  your  care  and  management  by  the 
Legislature  of  the  great  State  of  Tennessee. 
As  long  as  you  hold  to  this  trust  you  are  se- 
cure in  your  possession.  See  to  it  that  no  mod- 
ern enterprise  breaks  in  upon  the  hallowed  spot 
and  changes  it.  Let  no  vandal  hand  desecrate 
it  in  the  name  of  progress  or  commercialism. 
As  the  home  of  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  in 
which  he  lived  and  died,  future  generations 
will  desire  to  see  it  as  it  was  when  he  lived  and 
lingered  there.  Let  there  be  one  spot  in  all 
our  State  dedicated  to  patriotism.  This  is 
your  trust,  and  upon  you  rests  this  duty. 

Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris. 

(5) 


PREFACE. 

It  was  a  conscientious  principle  with  Andrew 
Jackson  that  caused  him  to  build  the  log  house 
at  the  Hermitage,  a  spot  destined  to  become 
historic  and  where  he  spent  forty-one  years  of 
his  eventful  life. 

While  serving  as  senator  at  Philadelphia, 
then  the  seat  of  government,  he  sold  some  of 
his  wild  acres  of  Tennessee  land  to  one  David 
AlHson.  Notes  instead  of  currency  were  paid 
for  the  land ;  and  Andrew  Jackson  bought  a 
stock  of  merchandise  suitable  for  the  needs  of 
the  frontier  and  gave  the  notes  in  payment. 
David  Allison  failed  in  the  panic  of  1793,  and 
the  merchant  of  whom  Andrew  Jackson  bought 
the  goods  came  back  to  him  for  the  money. 
When  Jackson  was  notified  that  he  was  to 
meet  an  indebtedness  of  nearly  seven  thousand 
dollars  it  staggered  him,  for  there  was  nothing 
so  scarce  at  that  time  in  Tennessee  as  currency, 
barter  taking  its  place. 

Andrew  Jackson  owned  at  that  time  more 
than  fifty  thousand  acres  of  wild  Tennessee 
land  and  a  comfortable  home,  much  better 
than  anv  of  his  neighbors,  at  Hunter's  Hill, 

(7) 


8  Presentation  of  the  Hermitage. 

some  three  miles  distan"  from  the  present  Her- 
mitage. The  Hunter's  Hill  home  was  his  most 
available  asset,  and  it  had  to  be  sacrificed  to 
aid  in  meeting  the  obligation.  He  sold  more 
of  his  wild  acres  and  paid  the  entire  debt, 
principal  and  interest,  as  it  fell  due,  but  it 
required  an  effort  and  great  sacrifice. 

Nothing  daunted,  he  built  the  log  house  and, 
in  the  year  1804,  moved  once  again  into  the 
wilderness.  The  log  house  was  a  two-story 
building,  one  large  room  below  and  two  above, 
with  several  other  log  houses  surrounding  it, 
making  a  comfortable,  if  not  a  very  preten- 
tious, home. 

The  brick  house  on  the  present  site  was 
built  in  1 8 19,  the  brick  being  manufactured  on 
the  place.  It  was  burned  in  1834  and  rebuilt 
the  following  year  on  the  same  site  and  in  very 
nearly  the  same  style. 

General  Jackson  died  in  1845,  willing  the 
entire  estate  to  his  adopted  son,  Andrew  Jack- 
son, Jr. 

In  1856  the  adopted  son  sold  five  hundred 
acres  of  the  farm  to  the  State  of  Tennessee 
for  forty-eight  thousand  dollars  and  moved 
to  a  plantation  in  Mississippi.    The  Civil  War 


Preface.  9 

came  on;  and  at  the  invitation  and  solicitation 
of  Gov.  Isham  G.  Harris,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr., 
returned  to  the  Hermitage  to  become  its  cus- 
todian. He  died  there  in  1865,  and  his  widow, 
Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke  Jackson,  and  her  widowed 
sister,  Mrs.  Marion  Adams,  were  permitted  by 
the  State  authorities  to  retain  their  residence 
there  until  death  claimed  them,  Mrs.  Adams 
preceding  her  sister  to  the  grave  several  years. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke  Jackson  died  in  1887,  and 
in  1889  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  was 
organized. 

Of  this  organization,  its  founding,  and  the 
preservation  of  the  Hermitage,  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  give  a  true,  unprejudiced,  and  impartial 
account. 

Necessarily  in  writing  these  annals  and  this 
history  I  have,  from  the  very  facts  in  the  case, 
been  compelled  to  make  much  use  of  the  pro- 
noun "I,"  but  it  was  unavoidable.  The  state- 
ments, the  histor}^  the  stories  are  all  my  own 
personal  experiences.  The  entei*prise  has  been 
a  life  work  with  me,  and  T  have  liked  it  from 
the  beginning. 

Could  it  have  been  possible,  I  would  have 
preferred   that   another   and    not   the   author 


lo         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

had  written  these  annals;  but  there  is  no  one 
who  has  had  such  close  contact  with  the  very 
first  movement  as  has  the  author,  who  knows 
of  all  its  struggles  and  efforts  in  those  first 
uncertain  and  formative  days.  After  the  first 
election  Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter,  who  was  chosen 
Regent,  was  my  constant  coworker,  and  her 
enthusiasm  was  equal  to  my  own.  We  worked 
together,  directing  and  almost  sustaining  the 
work  for  the  first  six  years. 

Noble  women,  with  energy  and  enterprise, 
have  built  up  this  organization  until  it  ranks 
now  with  the  greatest  and  best  in  the  State. 
The  author  has  enjoyed  the  friendly  inter- 
course with  these  ladies  who  have  from  time 
to  time  constituted  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association. 

The  writer  has  for  years  contemplated  this 
publication  and  now  presents  it  to  the  public, 
hoping  that  it  may  interest,  even  entertain,  all 
who  read  the  pages  of  this  little  volume  and 
that  all  may  redound  to  the  glory  of  Gen. 
Andrew  Jackson.  The  Author. 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter  I.                            pj^^^ 
The  Work  of  Founding 13 

Chapter  II. 
Newspaper  Reports  21 

Chapter  IV. 
The  Charter  Taken  Out 33 

Chapter  III. 
The  By-Laws  Are  Made 48 

Chapter  V. 
The  Option  on  the  Relics — Active  Work  Begun....     62 

Chapter  VI. 
Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter 71 

Chapter  VII. 
The  Regents    86 

Chapter  VIII. 
Uncle  Alfred  and  Gracey Ii6 

Chapter  IX. 
Uncle  Alfred's   Story 129 


12         Preseri^aiion  of  the  Hermitage. 

Chapter  X.  Pao». 

The  Ghost  at  the  Hermitage .  15X 

Chapter  XI. 
Brides  at  the  Hermitage .....,,.,..  162 

Chapter  XH. 
The  Hermitage  Church 176 

Chapter  XHI. 
The  Artist  at  the  Hermitage 193 

Chapter  XIV. 
The  Hermitage  Garden 198 

Appendix    211 


CHAPTER  I. 
The  Work  of  Founding. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  an  inspiration  came 
to  Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson  III.,  wife  of  General 
Jackson's  grandson,  that  there  be  a  memorial 
association  organized  to  preserve  and  care  for 
the  Hermitage  after  the  manner  of  Mount  Ver- 
non. 

Mrs.  Jackson  had  come  as  a  bride  to  the 
Hermitage  a  few  years  prior  to  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke  Jackson,  her  husband's 
mother,  and  was  vitally  interested  in  the  fate  of 
the  old  historic  homestead ;  and  she,  like  others, 
knew  that  the  property,  which  had  so  long  been 
owned  by  the  State,  would  now  be  taken  in 
charge  and  probably  a  permanent  disposition 
made  of  it.  There  were  many  enterprises  sug- 
gested, and  several  parties  were  trying  to  get 
possession  of  the  property,  the  most  formi- 
dable of  which  was  the  Confederate  Soldiers' 
Home  Association. 

It  was  then  that  the  idea  occurred  to  Mrs. 
Jackson  of  the  formation  of  a  memorial  asso- 


14  Presentation  of  the  Hermitage. 

elation,  and  the  successful  efforts  of  the  Mount 
Vernon  Ladies'  Association  encouraged  her  to 
beheve  that  a  similar  effort  might  be  made  on 
behalf  of  the  Hermitage.  Of  this  inspiration 
Mrs.  Jackson  says: 

I  remember  the  exact  conditions  at  the  Hermitage 
when  I  broached  the  idea  of  a  memorial  association  to 
Colonel  Jackson,  who  was  in  deep  distress  as  to  the 
disposal  of  the  Hermitage  collection  should  the  Sol- 
diers' Home  be  established  there.  Suddenly,  while  en- 
gaged in  some  household  work,  it  flashed  into  my  mind : 
"Why  not  have  a  memorial  like  Mount  Vernon  estab- 
lished here?"  The  idea  appealed  to  Colonel  Jackson; 
so  we  took  that  long,  bitter-cold  ride  from  the  Hermit- 
age to  the  home  of  Mrs.  Aaron  V.  Brown,  Tennessee 
Vice  Regent  of  Mount  Vernon,  eighteen  miles  or  more, 
in  a  driving  wind-and-dust  storm,  leaving  the  bugg>' 
but  once  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  eleven 
o'clock  that  night.  We  had  as  a  result  of  the  day's 
work  the  promise  of  Miss  Narcissa  Saunders,  Mrs. 
Brown's  daughter,  to  mail  to  Mrs.  D.  R.  Dorris  the 
memoranda  of  the  Mount  Vernon  by-laws,  etc 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  1889,  Mrs.  Jack- 
son came  to  see  me  at  my  home,  and  we  talked 
about  the  Hermitage  affairs.  According  to 
my  recollection,  Mrs.  Jackson  did  not  speak 
of  the  memorial  association  at  the  first  meet- 
ing, but  rather  of  the  value  of  the  relics  and 
their  probable  sale  in  a  New  York  market.    At 


I'he  Work  of  Founding,  15 

that  time  my  husband,  the  late  Duncan  R. 
Dorris,  Sn,  was  a  newspaper  man  and  a  cor- 
respondent of  the  New  York  Herald  and  other 
Northern  and  Eastern  journals,  and  Mrs.  Jack- 
son had  an  idea  that  his  newspaper  influence 
might  enable  her  to  put  the  relics  upon  the 
market  in  one  of  those  cities,  where  such  things 
were  appreciated. 

In  a  day  or  two  Mrs.  Jackson  came  to  see 
me  again,  and  this  time  she  spoke  of  forming 
a  memorial  association.  The  idea  at  once  ap- 
pealed to  me.  I  grasped  the  situation,  and  it 
was  my  opinion  that  it  was  practicable.  My 
enthusiasm  was  aroused,  and  I  saw  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  enterprise.  I  had  known  the 
Hermitage  from  early  childhood.  My  mother 
was  reared  within  a  mile  of  the  historic  home- 
stead, at  the  pretty  old  Clifton  farm,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Cumberland  River.  Much  of  my 
childhood  was  spent  at  the  old  home  place,  and 
a  visit  to  the  Hermitage  was  a  charming  and 
frequent  event. 

I  remembered  the  lovely  garden  with  its 
odor  of  lilac  and  hyacinth,  its  other  pretty 
blossoms,  its  graveled  walks,  and  the  air  of 
mvsterv.     For  was  it  not  the  home  of  Gen- 


1 6         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

eral  Jackson  ?  I  remembered  the  pretty  things 
in  the  house,  the  beautiful  Httle  children  of 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence,  granddaughters  of 
Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke  Jackson,  and  the  many 
pigeons  that  came  at  their  call.  And,  more- 
over, I  was  connected  by  ties  of  blood  with  the 
family.  As  Mrs.  Jackson's  idea  took  posses- 
sion of  me  I  grew  at  once  deeply  interested  in 
anything  that  proposed  to  keep  sacred  the  hal- 
lowed spot  that  I  had  always  known,  loved,  and 
revered. 

Of  later  years  it  was  not  an  imusual  thing 
for  my  husband  to  receive  a  commission  from 
some  of  his  Northern  journals  to  write  a  good 
story  of  the  Hermitage.  In  a  buggy  we  would 
take  the  long  drive  to  see  Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke 
Jackson,  \vho  was  living  at  an  advanced  age 
at  the  Hermitage,  and  he  would  obtain  from 
her  an  interesting  interview. 

I  had  seen  the  Hermitage  in  its  palmy  days 
of  beauty  and  plenty,  and  I  had  seen  it  when 
a  joyous  family  lived  there.  I  saw  it  again  in 
its  desolation,  after  the  horrors  of  war  had  left 
its  imprint,  after  the  splendid  fortune  left  by 
General  Jackson  had  all  been  swept  away,  when 
its  fences  were  all  down,  the  beautiful  lawn 


By  permission  of  the  Army  and  Xavy  Magazine,  from  the  White  House  liaUery. 


The  Work  of  Founding,  17 

grown  up  in  sprouts  as  high  as  a  man's  head, 
the  garden  overgrown  like  a  wilderness,  and 
the  evidence  of  decay  everywhere  present. 

I  had  seen  very  little  of  Mrs.  Andrew 
(Amy)  Jackson  then  and  knew  her  but  slight- 
ly; but  as  the  idea  of  a  memorial  association 
developed  we  soon  became  very  intimately  and 
harmoniously  associated  and  worked  together 
to  a  great  end. 

On  January  8,  1889,  the  State  Legislature 
assembled,  and  plans  were  to  be  made  and  ideas 
formulated,  to  be  prepared  to  launch  the  enter- 
prise before  the  General  x\ssembly.  Mr.  W. 
A.  (Alex)  Donelson,  a  kinsman  and  near 
neighbor  of  Colonel  Jackson,  was  much  inter- 
ested and  soon  joined  in  the  councils  and  helped 
form  plans  for  the  great  memorial  association 
that  was  to  be.  We  knew  that  there  was  hard 
work  before  us;  for  there  was  opposition,  and 
many  other  enterprises  were  on  foot  to  obtain 
possession  of  the  Herm.itage  property. 

But  we  had  resolved  to  make  the  effort ;  for 
we  knew  that  the  name  of  Jackson  was  a 
mighty  one  to  conjure  with,  and  the  respect 
and  veneration  always  shown  his  memory  ar- 
gued full  success  for  our  undertaking. 
2 


i8         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

There  were  four  persons,  and  only  four, 
who  had  faith  in  an  association,  and  these  four 
were  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Jackson,  the  writer  of 
this  histor\%  and  Mr.  Alex  Donelson.  The 
four  met  together  frequently  in  the  author's 
home ;  and  it  was  in  her  home  that  all  the  plans 
were  made,  all  the  ideas  discussed,  the  name 
given,  and  the  charter  prepared  for  registra- 
tion. 

How  often  we  met,  I  do  not  now  remember; 
but  the  meetings  were  many,  almost  every  day, 
for  a  while,  and  of  the  same  four  at  the 
same  place  (my  home).  Mrs.  Jackson  re- 
mained in  the  city  at  one  time  for  about  two 
weeks,  and  then  we  talked  together  every  day. 
While  preparing  this  history  I  called  upon  Mrs. 
Jackson  for  her  recollections  concerning  the 
organization  and  the  first  steps,  and  she  wrote : 

You  know  I  did  not  attend  nearly  all  of  the  meet- 
ings. After  the  week  or  two  while  I  stayed  at  Mrs. 
Lawrence's  [then  living  in  Nashville],  I  returned  to 
the  Hermitage  and  took  no  active  part  in  the  proceed- 
ings until  after  we  gave  the  four  years'  option  to  the 
Association. 

We  began  to  watch  the  legislative  proceed- 
ings, to  note  everything  said  and  done  on  the 


The  Work  of  Founding.  19 

streets,  in  the  newspapers,  and  in  legislative 
halls  concerning  the  Hermitage.  On  Sunday 
morning,  January  2y,  1889,  there  appeared  in 
the  Nashville  American  an  article  over  a  col- 
umn long  which  I  had  written,  as  we  thought 
it  about  time  to  begin  to  advertise  the  enter- 
prise, and  my  husband  had  put  it  in  as  a  local 
story.    The  article  began  as  follows : 

What  will  be  done  about  the  Hermitage?  This 
question  has  been  a  fruitful  topic  of  debate  and  was 
yesterday  the  subject  of  a  new  suggestion  from  one  who 
for  years  has  taken  an  active  interest  in  this  matter. 
Said  this  person :  "One  General  Assembly  after  another 
has  convened  and  retired  without  being  able  to  dispose 
of  the  question  in  a  manner  at  once  satisfactory  and 
creditable  to  the  State  and  at  the  same  time  with  re- 
spect to  the  memory  of  the  old  hero  who  sleeps  there." 

Then  it  goes  on  to  suggest  a  memorial  asso- 
ciation and  says  that  there  was  a  probability 
of  such  an  association's  being  formed,  and  that 
the  idea  of  this  association  was  to  purchase 
three  hundred  acres  of  the  Hermitage  farm 
for  the  establishment  of  an  Andrew  Jackson 
memorial. 

This  was  the  initial  bow  to  the  public  of  what 
was  afterwards  to  be  the  Ladies'  Hermitage 
Association.     It  was  the  very  first  hint  in  the 


20         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

public  press  that  such  a  movement  was  con- 
templated. The  hope  seemed  to  be  so  forlorn 
and  so  visionary  that  no  one  then  could  ever 
have  conceived  to  what  strength  and  dignity 
this  little  seed  could  grow.  The  suggestions 
were  merely  in  the  nature  of  possibilities,  for 
all  was  then  so  shadowy  and  uncertain  that 
nothing  could  be  stated  positively.  The  Leg- 
islature was  in  session,  and  the  ordinary  rou- 
tine of  legislative  work  was  progressing;  but 
it  was  not  until  January  2^  that  Gov.  Robert 
L.  Taylor  was  inaugurated  and  the  Legislature 
was  fully  organized  for  business. 


CHAPTER  II. 
Newspaper  Reports. 

Ik  order  that  this  history  of  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
might  be  absolutely  correct  and  perfect  in  all 
particulars,  the  writer  visited  Carnegie  Library 
recently  and  examined  the  files  of  the  Nashville 
American  to  get  correct  dates,  reports,  and  all 
the  published  data  there  obtainable.  The  news- 
paper articles  herein  made  use  of  are  copied 
from  the  files  of  1889. 

On  February  2  the  Legislature  took  a  recess 
to  last  until  February  12  at  noon. 

On  Saturday  morning,  February  2,  an  article 
appeared  in  the  American,  saying: 

Senator  Crews  has  introduced  a  bill  of  much  interest 
to  the  people  of  the  State.  It  contemplates  turning  over 
for  twenty-five  years  the  Hermitage  property  to  a  Con- 
federate association  of  the  State,  to  be  used  as  a  home 
for  indigent  Confederate  soldiers  and  their  families.  It 
also  contemplates  an  appropriation  of  ten  thousand 
dollars  to  equip  it  and  put  it  in  good  condition. 

Senator  Crews  thought  that  after  the  first 
year  it  would  be  self-sustaining  by  letting  the 
old  soldiers  farm  the  land. 

(21) 


2Z         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

On  Thursday,  February  7,  an  article  ap- 
peared  in  the  American,  saying: 

The  bill  introduced  into  the  General  Assembly  by 
Senator  Crews  to  convert  the  Hermitage  property  into 
a  Confederate  home,  to  be  further  equipped  for  that 
purpose  with  an  appropriation  of  ten  thousand  dollars, 
is  meeting  with  hearty  favor  in  many  quarters. 

On  Saturday,  February  9,  in  an  article  over 
a  column  long  in  the  American,  many  citizens 
expressed  themselves  heartily  in  favor  of  a 
Confederate  soldiers'  home  at  the  Hermitage. 
This  article  was  in  the  nature  of  interviews 
with  a  large  number  of  our  most  prominent 
citizens,  and  it  presented  formidable  opposition 
to  our  cherished  plans. 

In  the  meantime  we  were  not  idle.  We  had 
meetings  nearly  every  day  while  the  Legisla- 
ture was  taking  a  recess,  and  in  that  interim 
we  laid  out  most  of  the  plans.  Great  interest 
was  manifested,  and  there  was  much  talk  on 
all  sides.  It  was  not  long  before  the  public 
learned  that  there  was  a  movement  on  foot, 
and  a  very  vigorous  one,  to  establish  a  Hermit- 
age Memorial  Association. 

The  four  founders  and  coworkers  decided 
to   call   a   mass   meeting   of   citizens   at   the 


Newspaper  Reports.  23 

Maxwell  House  to  see  if  they  could  awaken 
some  interest  in  the  work  they  were  proposing 
to  do.  The  movement  to  establish  a  Confed- 
erate soldiers*  home  was  a  very  popular  one 
and  presented  formidable  op-position.  Colonel 
Jackson  was  a  Confederate  soldier,  and  we 
were  all,  except  Mrs.  Jackson  herself,  Confed- 
erates; but  the  idea  of  preserving  Andrew 
Jackson's  home  had  taken  possession  of  us, 
and  we  could  not  turn  aside  from  that  enter- 
prise. 

The  legislative  recess  was  nearly  over,  and 
the  mass  meeting  was  to  be  held  before  the 
reassembling.  We  sent  out  postal  cards  to 
about  twenty-five  ladies  and  gentlemen  whom 
we  thought  might  be  interested  and  called  the 
meeting  for  Monday,  February  1 1,  at  the  Max- 
well House,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
An  able  chairman  was  needed  to  preside,  as 
much  depended  upon  the  success  of  the  meet- 
ing. On  Sunday  afternoon  my  husband  went 
with  me  to  call  upon  Dr.  Thomas  A.  Atchison 
at  his  office  and  asked  him  to  preside  at  the 
meeting  we  had  called.  He  accepted  the  invi- 
tation readily.    After  discussing  the  plans  with 


24         Presewation  of  the  Hermitage. 

him,  he  heartily  indorsed  the  idea  and  gave 
much  encouragement. 

The  Tuesday  morning  (February'  12,  1889) 
Ainerican  had  a  report  of  the  meeting  nearly 
two  columns  in  length,  which  was  as  follows: 

The  meeting  called  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a 
Hermitage  Association  met  yesterday  afternoon  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  parlors  of  the  Maxwell  House.  There 
was  a  representative  assemblage  present,  most  of  whom 
were  in  favor  of  establishing  a  memorial  association 
and  others  who  had  in  hand  the  plan  for  the  Soldiers* 
Home  Association. 

The  latter  were  invited  to  be  present  to  listen  to 
such  suggestions  and  remarks  as  might  be  made  with 
the  hope  of  harmonizing  the  two  movements. 

Dr.  T.  A.  Atchison  was  called  to  the  chair  and  in 
one  of  his  smoothest  and  most  eloquent  addresses  placed 
before  the  meeting  the  objects  and  aims  in  view.* 

They  were  there  to  organize  a  Hermitage  Associa- 
tion for  the  preservation  of  the  home  of  Jackson.  Dr. 
Atchison  said : 

"This  is  a  most  praiseworthy  object,  and  it  is  meet 
that  Tennessee  and  Nashville  take  the  initiatory  steps 
toward  the  formation  of  such  an  association.  Tennes- 
see has  not  the  exclusive  right  to  claim  the  great 
man  whose  mortal  remains  lie  within  her  border. 

"As  I  understand  it,  this  movement  is  to  be  a  national 
association,  not  to  be  confined  by  any  geographical  limit, 


•I  remember  that  Dr.  Atchison  prefaced  his  talk  with  the  remark:  "I 
am  glad  to  preside  over  so  large  and  respectable  a  meeting.  I  am  large, 
and  Dr.  Witherspoon  is  respectable." 


Nezvspapcr  Reports. 


25 


as  his  great  name  knew  no  such  boundaries.  I  have 
no  antagonism  to  anything  looking  to  an  ex-Confeder- 
ates' home.  On  the  contrary,  I  wish  to  say  that  I 
heartily  approve  of  that  measure. 

"The  Hermitage  ought  to  be  kept  in  perpetuity  to  the 
honor  of  General  Jackson.  This  is  an  organization  not 
to  ask  favors,  but  to  purchase  them.  It  will  be  devel- 
oped upon  the  plans  of  Mount  Vernon,  than  which  there 
has  not  been  a  greater  success.  That  was  originated 
by  a  lady  in  South  Carolina,  and  this  is  to  be  a  ladies' 
association. 

"Women  are  the  first  to  appreciate  true  heroism,  and 
whenever  they  undertake  a  charge  they  are  apt  to  make 
of  it  a  success.  This  proposed  organization  can  raise 
all  the  necessary  funds  to  compass  their  ends,  and  they 
certainly  will  do  it." 

Dr.  C.  D.  Elliott  moved  that  reporters  present  be 
requested  to  act  as  secretaries,  and  the  motion  carried. 
Dr.  Elliott  said  that  he  understood  that  the  association 
proposed  to  purchase  the  Hermitage  and  keep  it  in 
perpetual  preservation. 

Mrs.  D.  R.  (Mary  C.)  Dorris  here  stated  that  it  was 
proposed  to  organize  an  association  operated  and  con- 
ducted upon  the  plan  of  the  Mount  Vernon  Association 
and  m  this  connection  read  the  following  letter: 

"Gro\ttown,  Ga.,  January  5,  1889. 
"Col.  Andrew  Jackson,  the  Hermitage,  Tenn. 

"Dear  Sir:  Mrs.  Philodea  E.  Eve,  Vice  Regent  of  the 
Mount  Vernon  Association  for  the  State  of  Georgia, 
mentioned  to  me  having  received  a  letter  from  her 
sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Paul  F.  Eve,  asking  in  your  behalf 
about  the  original  organization  of  the  Ladies'  Mount 


26         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

Vernon  Association.  As  she  does  not  feel  equal  to  the 
effort  of  writing,  having  been  quite  out  of  health  for 
several  months,  she  requests  me  to  make  the  following 
statements : 

"In  1853  there  was  some  talk  of  the  possibility  of 
arrangements  being  made  between  John  A.  Washington 
and  a  manufacturing  company  to  transfer  Mount  Ver- 
non into  the  hands  of  the  latter.  There  had  been  an 
idea  suggested  that  the  ladies  of  the  South  purchase 
Mount  Vernon  and  make  of  it  an  American  Mecca. 
This  proposition  startled  some  of  the  ladies  interested 
in  this  project,  and  it  was  made  the  basis  of  several  of 
their  appeals.  Subscriptions  were  sought  and  in  some 
instances  generously  responded  to.  It  was  proposed 
that  the  subscriptions  be  one  dollar  each,  but  larger  ones 
of  any  amount  would  be  acceptable.  This  continued  in 
the  Southern  States  three  fiv  four  years.  Enthusiasm 
on  this  subject  having  greatly  subsided,  our  Northern 
sisters  being  desirous  to  join  us,  it  was  made  a  Na- 
tional Ladies'  Association  in  1856.  The  money  was  all 
procured  by  subscriptions,  many  quite  large,  by  en- 
tertainments, fairs,  etc.,  and  by  the  efforts  of  Edward 
Everett.  It  was  there  that  the  money  was  gained,  and 
Mr.  Washington  was  paid  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
thousand  dollars. 

"The  peculiarity  of  this  Association  is  that  it  was  sug- 
gested and  founded  by  women  and  has  been  legislated 
for  and  governed  by  women,  and  no  defalcation  has 
ever  been  known  among  any  of  the  ladies  who  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  it.  I  rather  think  that  our  organiza- 
tion will  not  suit  the  case  of  the  Hermitage,  as  the 
State  of  Tennessee  stands  ready  to  do  honor  to  her 
noble  son  and  perhaps  needs  no  outside  assistance. 


Newspaper  Reports.  ^7 

"Hoping  that  you  may  succeed  in  making  it  what  it 
should  be  to  do  justice  to  our  Southern  hero,  I  am, 
dear  sir, 

"Yours  respectfully,  Philodea  E.  Eve. 

By  Julia  B.  Culver." 

Mrs.  Dorris  stated  that  Jay  Gould  had  recently  given 
to  the  Mount  Vernon  Association  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars  with  which  to  purchase  an  additional 
thirty-three  and  one-half  acres  adjacent  to  Mount  Ver- 
non which  they  desired.  She  also  stated  that  the  ladies 
now  proposed  to  purchase  from  the  State  the  three 
hundred  acres  immediately  surrounding  the  Hermitage, 
for  which  they  proposed  to  pay  full  value.  With  the 
funds  accruing  from  the  sale  of  this  three  hundred 
acres  the  State  could  found  the  Confederate  Soldiers* 
Home  in  a  locality  much  better  suited  to  their  wants 
than  the  Hermitage  property. 

The  chairman  recommended  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  procure  a  charter,  which  was  done.  Mrs. 
J.  B.  Lindsley,  Mrs.  George  W.  Fall,  and  Mrs.  E.  H. 
East  were  appointed.  A  Committee  on  Permanent 
Organization  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Mrs.  An- 
drew Jackson,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Donelson,  and  Mrs.  D.  R. 

Dorris. 

Mr.  C  A.  R.  Thompson  suggested  that  two  hundred 
acres  detached  would  make  desirable  summer  homes  in 
the  event  the  Hermitage  was  made  a  permanent  memo- 
rial. 

Rev.  Jerry  Witherspoon  said  that  he  had  a  deep 
interest  in  the  movement  for  the  Confederate  home  and 
that  it  was  not  proposed  to  antagonize  that  movement 
in  this  organization.  He  wished  to  see  both  proposi- 
tions harmonized  and  felt  that  they  did  not  conflict  and 


28  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

that  one  proposition  could  aid  the  other.  In  this  re- 
spect he  called  upon  Mr.  George  B.  Guild,  Dr.  Roth- 
rock,  and  Judge  Frank  T.  Reid,  who  were  present,  to 
make  remarks  on  their  side  of  the  question. 

Dr.  C  D.  Elliott  then  made  a  very  good  talk  upon 
the  subject.  He  said  that  it  had  once  been  proposed 
that  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  have  a  home  at 
the  Hermitage.  This  idea  gave  exasperation  to  the 
other  side,  and  the  proposal  to  have  a  home  for  ex- 
Confederate  soldiers  would  produce  the  same  feeling  in 
certain  quarters.  All  felt  a  national  interest  in  Jack- 
son, and  nothing  should  be  done  that  would  disturb 
the  national  character  of  his  home. 

Judge  Frank  T.  Reid  said  that  he  and  the  gentlemen 
with  him  had  expected  to  take  no  part  in  the  meeting; 
but  as  he  had  been  invited,  he  would  make  a  few  re- 
marks. He  did  so  in  favor  of  the  State's  making  pro- 
vision for  her  disabled  and  .indigent  soldiers. 

Mr.  George  B.  Guild  followed,  making  his  remarks 
at  some  length,  favoring  a  soldiers'  home,  making  a 
stirring  appeal  for  those  unfortunate  survivors  of  the 
war  that  were  now  in  poverty.  They  asked  only  for 
the  loan  of  the  place  for  twenty-five  years. 

Mrs.  Dorris  then  stated  that  at  the  end  of  twenty- 
five  years  the  entire  aspect  of  the  Hermitage  will  have 
been  changed.  New  buildings  will  have  been  erected 
and  the  old  one  so  altered  as  not  to  be  the  same;  but 
the  greatest  change  would  be  in  the  interior  of  the 
building.  There,  after  a  lapse  of  forty-five  years,  ev- 
erything remained  the  same;  but  what  would  it  be 
after  the  lapse  of  twenty-five  more  years?  There  were 
the  beautiful  parlors,  the  walls  covered  with  the  por- 
traits of  Jackson  and  his  family.  There  was  the  cabinet 
of  curiosities  which  the  hand  of  the  dead  General  ac- 


Newspaper  Reports,  29 

cumulated.  There  on  the  folding  door  was  the  por- 
trait of  him  on  his  war  horse.  In  the  hall  was  the 
chair  of  General  Washington;  and,  above  all,  there 
was  the  room  in  which  "Old  Hickory"  died,  the  bed- 
stead on  which  he  rested,  the  washstand,  the  bureau- 
all  were  there.  Over  the  mantel  was  the  portrait  of  his 
beloved  wife,  of  whom  he  said,  "Heaven  would  be  no 
heaven  to  me  were  she  not  there,"  and  on  which  his 
dying  gaze  rested.  All  these  things  would  be  taken 
away  from  the  place;  there  would  be  great  changes.  At 
the  end  of  twenty-five  years  how  could  all  these  things, 
once  removed,  be  restored? 

Dr.  J.  B.  Lindsley  then  said  that  he  could  not  see 
why  this  should  not  be  a  powerful  organization.    Sixty 
million  people  felt  an  interest  in  General  Jackson,  and 
it  would  not  be  long  before  two  hundred  million  would 
feel  an  interest.    There  are  only  four  places  upon  which 
the  gaze  of  the  world  rests.    Two  of  these  are  Mount 
Vernon  and  the  Hermitage.     The  Hermitage,  only  ten 
miles  from  Nashville,  is  an  unusual  object  of  interest  to 
the  people  of  Tennessee.     The  General  Assembly  pur- 
chased this  historic  spot,  to  be  perpetuated  in  the  mem- 
ory of  Andrew  Jackson,  to  their  great  glory.    He  died 
on  the  8th  of  June,  1845.*    "When  I  first  heard  of  the 
Confederate  movement  I  thought  it  was  a  splendid  idea, 
but  then  the  idea  of  an  association  had  not  presented 
itself  to  me.    Now  I  think  that  by  all  means  an  asso- 
ciation ought  to  be  formed.    I  recognize  the  fact  that 
with  the  lapse  of  time  the  Hermitage,  unless  perpetu- 
ated by  such  an  association,  will  be  changed  and  the 
relics  all  swept  away.    The  whole  American  people  have 
an  interest  in  this  Association  without  regard  to  any 

•Dr.  Lindsley  was  present  at  the  deathbed  scene. 


30         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

section  whatever.  It  was  not  Grant  at  the  head  of  his 
enormous  columns,  nor  Lincoln  in  his  chair  at  Washr 
ington ;  it  was  the  soul  of  Jackson,  who  said,  'The  Fed- 
eral Union  must  and  shall  be  preserved,'  that  defeated 
us  in  the  War  of  the  States.  I  say  it  is  a  shame,  a 
damnable  shame,  that  the  Confederate  soldiers  have  not 
been  taken  care  of.  They  fought  for  four  long  years 
and  laid  down  their  lives  and  ought  to  have  had  the 
care  of  this  State.  But  twenty-five  years  after  the  war 
Tennessee  is  just  now  beginning  to  think  of  her  Confed- 
erate veterans.  She  has  simply  been  idle  and  done 
nothing  for  them.  She  should  have  taken  care  of  the 
veterans  long  before  the  funded  debt  was  paid,  but  the 
Hermitage  should  be  preserved  forever." 

C.  D.  Elliott  said  that  perfect  harmony  should  exist  in 
the  two  propositions  already  submitted.  He  thought  that 
the  Legislature  would  take  favorable  action  on  both. 

Dr.  Rothrock  said  that* he  came  not  expecting  to 
say  anything.  The  property  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
the  State  for  twenty-two  years,  and  why  had  not  this 
proposition  been  made  before?  It  was  only  when  they 
proposed  to  make  a  Confederate  home  that  any  propo- 
sition of  this  kind  had  been  advanced.  He  said  that 
the  proposed  association  wanted  to  get  possession  of 
three  hundred  acres,  leaving  them  the  two  hundred 
acres  detached  in  which  to  build  their  home.  He  said 
that  one  of  the  objections  they  had  to  combat  in  the 
Legislature  was  that  so  many  soldiers  as  would  be 
cared  for  there  could  not  get  a  living  out  of  the  home, 
and  the  Legislature  would  have  to  make  continual  ap- 
propriations to  support  the  home.  If  they  could  not 
live  on  the  five  hundred  acres,  how  could  they  make  the 
home  self-supporting  on  the  two  hundred  acres  of  in- 


Newspaper  Reports,  31 

ferior  quality?  He  spoke  of  the  suffering  and  poverty 
of  the  uncared-for  and  impoverished  soldiers. 

Dr.  Atchison  suggested  that  a  conference  be  held 
between  committees  favoring  each  subject,  and  he  had 
not  a  doubt  that  the  two  propositions — the  one  about 
selling  the  Hermitage  and  three  hundred  acres  to  the 
Association  and  the  other  with  the  funds  thus  realized 
to  found  a  soldiers'  home— could  both  be  carried  before 
the  Legislature  by  storm,  and  everybody  would  be  sat- 
isfied. 

A  Committee  of  Conference  was  appointed,  as  fol- 
lows: Dr.  J.  B.  Lindsley,  Rev.  Jerry  Witherspoon,  W. 
A.  Donelson,  Mrs.  L.  F.  Benson,  Mrs.  Andrew  Mar- 
shall, Mrs.  W.  C.  Dake,  Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson,  Mrs. 
W.  A.  Donelson,  and  Mrs.  D.  R.  Dorris. 

This  committee  will  meet  the  Committee  on  the  Sol- 
diers* Home  this  morning  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  office  of 
Dr.  J.  B.  Lindsley  at  the  Capitol. 

D.  R.  Dorris  moved  to  adjourn,  and  the  motion  car- 
ried. 

Pursuant  to  the  foregoing,  the  committee 
met  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Lindsley  at  the  State 
Capitol,  as  proposed.  The  daily  American  of 
Wednesday,  February  13,  made  the  following 
report  of  this  meeting,  with  headlines  as  fol- 
lows : 

The  Hermitage. 

a  proposition  made  to  the  iviemorial  association  and 

rejected. 

A  committee  from  the  proposed  Hermitage  Memorial 
Association,    consisting    of    Dr.    J.    B.    Lindsley,    Rev, 


32         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

Jerry  Witherspoon,  W.  A.  Donelson,  Mrs.  L.  F.  Ben- 
son, Mrs.  W.  C.  Dake,  Mrs.  D.  R.  Dorris,  Mrs.  W.  A. 
Donelson,  and  Mrs.  Andrew  Jackson,  met  yesterday 
morning  according  to  appointment  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
Lindsley  at  the  Capitol.  For  some  time  no  other  par- 
ties appeared,  and  the  interim  was  spent  in  making 
preparations  for  getting  out  a  charter  and  otherwise 
perfecting  the  organization.  After  some  delay  Mr. 
Hickman,  reflecting  the  views  of  the  committee  he 
represented,  proposed  to  compromise  by  giving  to  the 
Association  the  building  and  twenty-five  acres  imme- 
diately surrounding  it,  which  they  proposed  to  add  as 
an  amendment  to  the  Crews  bill. 

This  announcement  for  a  time  created  great  excite- 
ment with  the  ladies,  who  had  based  their  hopes  upon 
a  much  greater  area.  They  thought  that  fully  two 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  would  be  necessary  to  develop 
their  plan  and  to  aid  in  making  the  Memorial  Associa- 
tion self-sustaining.  It  will  deprive  them,  they  argued, 
of  the  use  of  any  of  the  farm  land  wherewith  to  sup- 
port the  superintendent  and  other  employees  necessary 
to  conduct  it  and  of  the  woodland,  which  would  be  the 
part  most  capable  of  being  beautified. 

Therefore  the  proposition  was  not  accepted,  but  it 
is  believed  that  there  can  yet  be  a  harmonious  adjust- 
ment of  the  two  projects.  Another  conference  will  be 
held  this  morning  in  the  library  rooms  at  9  a.m. 

This  later  conference,  it  seems,  never  ma- 
terialized, for  there  is  no  report  of  one  in  the 
American,  nor  do  I  remember  any  such  meet- 
ing, and  matters  rested  as  they  were. 


CHAPTER  III. 
The  Charter  Taken  Out. 

The  mass  meeting  had  been  called,  an  in- 
terested few  had  attended,  committees  were 
appointed,  and  all  done  that  could  be  done  at 
such  a  meeting*. 

Was  there  a  widespread  interest  awakened? 
Did  our  citizens  hasten  to  the  support  of  the 
Memorial  Association?  Not  so.  After  the 
meeting  the  world  moved  on  much  as  usual, 
and  only  the  faithful  four  who  had  done  all 
the  preliminary  work  continued  to  remember 
and  work  for  the  memorial  that  was  to  be 
established  to  the  memory  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

The  average  citizen  is  coldly  indifferent 
to  the  building  of  monuments,  and  it  is  "every- 
thing for  charity,  nothing  for  monuments." 
As  the  soldiers*  home  was  a  very  popular 
charity  and  the  other  enterprise  merely  a  mon- 
ument and  a  sentiment,  naturally  sympathy  was 
largely  against  the  latter.  Only  a  slight  inter- 
est had  been  awakened.  Some  were  indiffer- 
ent, some  bitterly  opposed,  and  some  scoffed, 

3  r3,o 


34  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

ridiculing  the  idea  as  utterly  impracticable  and 
impossible.  But,  after  all,  a  germ  was  planted, 
and  it  was  destined  to  grow, 

Mrs.  Jackson,  being  so  far  away,  could  not 
come  very  frequently  for  consultation.  Mr. 
Donelson  and  the  writer  talked  together  nearly 
tvery  day.  One  day,  when  all  four  were  pres- 
ent, we  decided  on  a  name.  Here,  again,  we 
used  the  Mount  Vernon  precedent  and  decided 
upon  the  euphonious  name,  Ladies'  Hermitage 
Association,  and  the  organization  is  so  called. 

Then  the  charter  was  discussed.  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed  at  the  ]\laxwell  House 
meeting,  but  it  was  prepared  by  the  four. 
Of  this  Mrs.  Jackson  says:  "I  certainly  recall 
the  meeting  when  the  taking  out  of  a  charter 
was  discussed,  for  no  one  present  seemed  to 
be  quite  certain  how  to  go  about  it."  A  blank 
printed  charter,  such  as  is  used  for  all  organi- 
zations and  clubs  not  intended  for  issuing  stock 
or  making  money,  was  obtained,  probably  by 
Mr.  Donelson,  who  brought  this  paper  to  me 
and  asked  me  to  write  a  suitable  introduction 
conforming  to  the  objects  and  desires  of  our 
new  Association,  which  I  did,  writing  as  fol- 
lows : 


The  Charter  Taken  Out.  35 

State  of  Tennessee — Charter  of  Incorporation. 

We,  the  undersigned  parties,  apply  for  a  charter  of 
incorporation  of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association,  the 
object  of  which  corporation  is  to  purchase  from  the 
State  of  Tennessee  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land, 
including  the  residence  and  tomb  of  Andrew  Jackson, 
and  to  beautify,  preserve,  and  adorn  the  same  through- 
out all  coming  years  in  a  manner  most  befitting  the 
memory  of  that  great  man  and  commensurate  with 
the  gratitude  of  his  countrymen. 

This  intrcxluction  Mr.  Donelson  copied  upon 
the  blank,  and  afterwards  I  was  told  that  he 
submitted  it  to  Judge  E.  H.  East  for  advice 
and  approval,  and  he  was  told  by  Judge  East 
that  it  was  all  right  and  needed  nothing  more. 

The  next  step  was  to  get  the  necessary  sig- 
natures. Five  names  were  needed;  and  as  it 
was  to  be  a  woman's  organization,  these  should 
be  the  names  of  women.  It  was  the  opinion 
of  Col.  A.  S.  Colyar,  who  was  taking  great 
interest  in  the  proposed  memorial  association, 
that  only  femme  soles  were  eligible  to  sign  the 
charter.  This  cut  out  some  of  our  best  helpers 
and  forced  us  to  get  signatures  of  unmarried 
ladies,  whether  they  proposed  entering  in  the 
work  or  not. 

Very  soon  after  this,  one  cold  afternoon  in 


36         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

February,  Mr.  Donelson  had  his  buggy  at  the 
door,  and  together  we  started  out  to  secure 
the  necessary  signatures.  Our  first  thought 
was  of  !^.Irs.  Rachel  Jackson  Lawrence,  who 
was  then  living  in  the  city.  She  was  the  first 
to  sign  the  document  that  was  to  make  the 
Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  a  regularly 
chartered  institution.  Our  next  visit  was  to 
Miss  Mary  White  May,  who  was  with  Mrs. 
R.  B.  Lea,  at  the  corner  of  Vine  Street  (now 
Seventh  Avenue)  and  Union  Street.  It  was 
late  when  we  started  on  our  important  errand 
and  was  now  nearly  dark;  but  we  continued 
our  work,  going  next' to  see  Mrs.  Mary  Hadley 
Clare,  who  was  living  then  on  the  west  front 
of  the  Capitol.  It  was  now  so  late  that  the 
gas  was  lighted  on  the  streets  and  in  the  homes. 
On  entering,  we  found  Gen.  G.  P.  Thruston 
with  Mrs.  Clare.  He  pointed  out  to  her  that 
she  could  "sue  and  be  sued,"  but  assured  her 
that  there  was  no  personal  risk  to  her  proper- 
ty, and  she  thereupon  signed  the  document. 
We  now  had  only  three  signatures.  Mr.  Don- 
elson had  to  drive  twelve  miles  to  his  home 
near  the  Hermitage  that  night,  and  he  left  the 
charter  with  me. 


The  Charter  Taken  Out.  37 

The  next  day  the  writer  procured  the  signa- 
tures of  Mrs.  E.  L.  Nicholson,  her  neighbor,  at 
the  Nicholson  House,  and  that  of  Miss  Louise 
Grundy  Lindsley,  who  was  also  a  neighbor, 
living  only  a  few  doors  from  her  home.  That 
completed  the  necessary  five  signatures.  Re- 
membering her  friend,  Mrs.  Henry  Heiss,  and 
her  sympathy  with  the  movement,  her  signature 
also  was  secured. 

Armed  with  the  charter  and  these  signatures, 
the  writer  went  alone  to  the  County  Court 
Clerk's  office  to  take  out  the  charter  of  incor- 
poration, and  on  February  19,  1889,  the  char- 
ter was  duly  entered. 

When  I  reached  the  County  Court  Clerk's 
office  I  found  that  I  would  have  to  swear  to 
the  signatures  and  that  my  name  would  have 
to  go  in  as  a  charter  member.  I  also  learned 
that  it  would  have  been  perfectly  legitimate 
for  the  other  interested  married  ladies  to  have 
signed  the  charter,  but  it  was  then  too  late  to 
remedy  the  matter. 

The  County  Court  Clerk,  W.  T.  Smith,  who 
knew  my  husband  well,  was  so  interested  in 
the  enterprise  that  he  charged  me  only  two 
dollars  for  registration,  which  I  paid.     Later 


38         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Mrs.  Jackson  returned  to  me  the  two  dollars, 
saying  that  she  wished  to  pay  for  it  herself. 
Afterwards  we  took  the  charter  to  the  State 
Capitol,  and  it  was  there  duly  registered,  and 
the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  became  a 
chartered  institution. 

The  following  are  the  papers  of  registra- 
tion: 

We,  the  undersigned,  apply  to  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
by  virtue  of  the  laws  of  the  land,  for  a  charter  of  in- 
corporation for  the  purposes  and  with  the  powers,  etc., 
declared  in  the  foregoing  instrument. 
This  19th  day  of  February,  1889. 

Mrs.  Rachel  J.  Lawrence, 
Mary.W.  May, 
Mrs.  Mary  Hadley  Clare, 
Mrs.  E.  L.  Nicholson, 
Miss  Louise  Grundy  Lindsley, 
Mrs.  Henry  Heiss. 
Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris, 

Witness  to  the  above  signatures. 

State  of  Tennessee, 
Davidson  County. 

Personally  appeared  before  me,  W.  T.  Smith,  Clerk 
of  the  County  Court  of  said  county,  Mrs.  Mary  C. 
Dorris,  subscribing  witness  to  the  attached  instrument, 
who,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that 
she  is  personally  acquainted  with  the  within-named  Mrs. 
Rachel  J.  Lawrence,  I^.Iary  W.  May,  Mrs.  M.  H.  Clare, 
Mrs.  E.  L.  Nicholson,  Miss  L.  G.  Lindsley,  Mrs.  Henry 


The  Charter  Taken  Out.  39 

Heiss,  the  bargainers,  and  that  they  acknowledged  the 
same  in  her  presence  to  be  their  act  and  deed,  for  the 
purposes  therein  contained. 

Witness  my  hand  at  office,  this  19th  day  of  February, 
1889.  W.  T.  Smith,  Clerk. 

By  D.  KuHN,  D.  C. 

State  of  Tennessee, 
Davidson  County. 

Register's  Office,  February  20,  1889. 

I,  T.  S.  Lusty,  Deputy  Register  for  said  county,  do 
certify  that  the  foregoing  instrument  and  certificate  are 
registered  in  said  office,  in  book  No.  76,  page  123;  that 
they  were  received  February  20,  1889,  at  10  o'clock  A.M., 
and  were  entered  in  Note  Book  10,  page  149. 

T.  S.  Lusty,  Deputy  Register,  Davidson  County. 

I,  Charles  A.  Miller,  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, do  certify  that  the  foregoing  instrument,  with 
certificates  of  acknowledgment  of  probate  and  regis- 
tration, was  filed  in  my  office  for  registration  on  the 
19th  day  of  February,  1889,  and  recorded  on  the  20th 
day  of  February,  1889,  in  Corporation  Record  Book 
"O,"  in  said  office,  page  104  et  seq. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  sub- 
scribed my  official  signature  and,  by  the  or- 
[seal.]  der  of  the  Governor,  affixed  the  great  seal  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee,  at  the  department, 
in  the  city  of  Nashville,  this  20th  day  of 
February,  A.D.  1889. 

C.  A.  Miller,  Secretary  of  State. 

So  much  done  and  yet  so  far  from  the  goal  I 
The  next  step  was  to  get  a  bill  drawn  up  and 


40  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

presented  in  both  houses  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. Mr.  Donelson  and  I  succeeded  in 
getting  the  bill  introduced,  but  only  "by  re- 
quest.*' The  solons,  having  before  them  a  bill 
for  the  establishment  of  the  soldiers'  home,  did 
not  care  to  antagonize  this  interest  and  hesi- 
tated to  introduce  a  bill  for  the  Association 
and  would  do  so  only  "by  request,"  which 
meant  that  they  would  not  support  it  before 
the  body. 

Mr.  Donelson  and  I  continued  to  frequent 
the  legislative  halls — almost  daily — and  as  we 
entered  we  heard  such  comment  as,  "Here 
comes  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association.*' 

In  our  bill  we  insisted  on  the  purchase  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  acres.  On  February  14, 
1889,  an  interesting  card  from  Dr.  C.  D.  Elliott 
appeared  in  the  American,  as  follows : 

Allow  me  space,  at  least  as  a  personal  favor,  to  define 
my  position  as  to  the  Hermitage,  not  correctly  reported 
and  perhaps  at  the  most  not  given  with  sufficient  dis- 
tinctness. The  Hermitage  is  a  natural  Mecca,  a  shrine 
where  only  "I  am  an  American  citizen"  gives  the  right 
to  worship.  No  sign,  no  name,  no  inscription  to  sug- 
gest to  worshipers  antagonism  in  sentiment  and  action 
among  American  citizens  should  appear  there.  To 
illustrate:  "The  Federal  Union — it  must  be  preserved." 


The  Charter  Taken  Out.  41 

Yet  I  say  as  a  Confederate  that  he  meant  the  consti- 
tutional Union  for  which  we  Confederates  fought,  and 
at  once  Confederates  and  Federals  are  fighting  at  the 
tomb  of  Jackson.  It  is  right  and  proper  that  the  guard- 
ianship of  this  natural  shrine  should  be  committed  to 
women.  They  need  Confederate  and  Federal  soldiers  to 
see  to  it  that  the  charter  and  all  official  preliminary 
actions  are  "national."  My  honor,  they  will  be  faithful 
wardens  of  that  tomb  to  the  end  of  time.  To  my  mind 
there  is  not  the  slightest  obstacle  in  the  way  of  perfect 
harmony  of  all  personal  interests  involved ;  and,  this 
secured,  this  General  Assembly  will  agree,  nemine 
contradicente,  to  the  proposition  submitted.  Let  the 
bill  now  before  the  Assembly  halt  and  see  what  can 
be  done.  C.  D.  Elliott. 

On  February  15  N.  E.  Alloway  had  a  card 
in  the  American  relative  to  the  estate  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson.     He  said : 

The  Hermitage  farm  at  the  time  of  General  Jack- 
son's death  consisted  of  twelve  hundred  acres,  and 
there  were  one  hundred  negroes,  besides  stock  of  all 
kinds.  The  property  sold  to  the  State  was  worth  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  but  two  thousand  dollars  was  held 
as  a  rental  for  the  two  years  before  Andrew  Jackson, 
Jr.,  moved  from  the  place.  The  estate  when  Jackson 
died  was  worth  somewhere  near  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  General  Jackson  was  not  in  debt 
when  he  died. 

This  was  in  answer  to  a  communication 
saying  that  General  Jackson  was  in  debt  when 
he  died. 


42         P-reserz'ation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Another  communication  from  W.  E.  Travis, 
on  February  i8,  gives  the  circumstances  of  its 
purchase  by  the  State.  Another  communica- 
tion signed  "G"  was  in  lighter  vein  and  inclined 
to  hold  the  Association  Vi'r>  to  ridicule,  speaking 
of  the  inaccessibility  of  the  Hermitage  and 
advocating  a  dummy  line,  then  so  popular. 

On  February  i6,  1889,  the  writer  addressed 
another  communication  to  the  daily  American 
over  a  column  in  length,  telling  of  having  called 
upon  a  number  of  gentlemen  in  the  interest  of 
the  work.    Continuing,  the  article  reads: 

If  such  an  Association  is  not  formed  now,  it  will 
never  be,  for  this  seems  to*  be  a  crisis  in  the  fate  of  the 
Hermitage.  It  may  seem  a  little  thing  now  and  even 
a  noble  one  to  pervert  it  to  other  uses;  but  when  the 
twent>'-five  years  have  rolled  away  and  it  is  too  late, 
the  generation  of  that  day  will  say:  "What  a  pity  it 
was  that  Jackson's  home  was  not  preser\'ed !"  We  need 
some  good  orator  to  champion  our  cause  before  the 
Legislature,  some  one  who  knows  all  the  facts  and  who 
will  work  for  us  fearlessly.  Then  we  may  feel  as- 
sured that  from  such  a  small  beginning  has  arisen  a 
memorial  association  that  will  survive  the  ages. 

The  article  also  argued  further : 

Twenty-five  acres,  or  even  seventy-five,  in  the  country 
is  very  little  ground.  If  we  establish  the  memorial,  we 
wish  it  to  be  a  national  affair.     .     .     ,     That  Jackson's 


The  Charter  Taken  Out,  43 

home  should  have  remained  so  nearly  as  it  was  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  forty-four  years  ago,  is  something 
remarkable  and  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  State  al- 
lowed Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  and  his  son  subsequently 
to  occupy  the  premises. 

This  was  signed  by  Mrs.  D.  R.  Dorris. 

A  strong  article  signed  "A'*  also  appeared, 
urging  the  Legislature  to  "sell"  to  the  Associa- 
tion "such  portion  of  the  estate  as  may  be  nec- 
essary to  fulfill  the  obligation  we  as  a  body 
propose  to  assume."  I  do  not  recall  who  "A" 
was.  I  reproduce  these  communications  to 
show  the  desire  of  the  Association  at  its  very 
inception  to  possess  a  larger  portion  of  Andrew 
Jackson's  farm  for  the  memorial  and  also  the 
original  desire  that  it  be  national  in  character. 
The  arguments  used  are  almost  identical  with 
those  that  members  of  the  Association  brought 
forward  when  they  made  contention  for  more 
land  before  the  General  Assembly  of  1913. 

On  February  25  the  writer  had  another  arti- 
cle in  the  paper  urging  the  Legislature  to  sell 
to  the  Ladies*  Hermitage  Association,  and  this 
article  was  signed  "Mrs.  D.  R.  Dorris,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association,*' 
using  that  title  for  the  first  time. 

Dr.  C.  D.  Elliott,  who  was  taking  a  great 


44         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

deal  of  interest  in  the  matter  and  who  strongly 
favored  the  woman's  Association,  said  in  a 
communication  on  February  20,  'The  State  of 
Tennessee  can  never  in  honor  part  with  its 
right  to  the  Hermitage" ;  but  he  thought  it  all 
right  for  the  Legislature  to  convey  it  "in  trust" 
to  the  woman's  Association. 

The  bill  for  the  Confederate  soldiers'  home 
had  right  of  way  before  the  Legislature,  and 
the  sentiment  ever^'where  was  strongly  in  fa- 
vor of  it,  and  when  it  came  up  it  passed  prac- 
tically without  opposition.  The  soldiers'  home 
bill  had  been  amended  so  as  to  exempt  the 
house,  tomb,  and  twenty-five  surrounding  acres. 
Matters  looked  blue  for  the  memorial  associa- 
tion. Col.  J.  M.  Crews,  who  had  introduced 
the  soldiers'  home  bill,  had  become  a  stanch 
friend  to  the  memorial  enterprise;  and  he  it 
was  who  formulated  a  new  bill  for  the  Ladies' 
Hermitage  Association  and  introduced  it  into 
the  Legislature.  It  was  Senate  Bill  No.  461 
and  "conditionally"  conveyed  to  the  "Ladies* 
Hermitage  Association  twenty-five  acres  of  the 
Hermitage  tract,  including  the  mansion  and 
tomb  of  General  Andrew  Jackson." 

The  very  last  day  of  the  session  of  1889, 


The  Charter  Taken  Out.  45 

April  5,  had  arrived,  and  even  this  act  had  not 
passed.    It  seemed  as  if  the  **house,  tomb,  and 
twenty-five  acres"  and  the  Ladies'  Hermitage 
Association   would   be   left   out   in   the   cold. 
The  act  had  passed  the  necessar>^  three  read- 
ings in  the  Senate  and  needed  only  to  pass  the 
third  reading  in  the  lower  house.     All  who 
were  in  any  way  interested  in  the  passage  of 
the  bill  were  there  to  urge  it  on  the  members. 
The  writer,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  A.  Donelson, 
Mrs.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  Mrs.  Benson,  Mrs. 
W.  C.  Dake,  and  probably  others  were  present 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  that  day. 
Dr.  J.  B.  Lindsley,  who  had  become  the  stanch 
friend  and  counselor  of  the  author  in  all  she 
was  doing,  entertained  grave  fears  and  advised 
Mrs.  Lindsley  to  be  on  the  floor  of  the  House 
and  urge  the  passage  of  the  bill.     It  was  she 
who  influenced  Col.  John  H.  Savage,  the  "old 
man  of  the  mountain,"  as  he  was  called,  who 
had  opposed  the  act,  to  vote  for  the  bill  and 
withdraw  his  opposition.    When  it  came  to  a 
vote  the  bill  passed,  and  the  workers  were  so 
overjoyed  at  the  happy  consummation  that  it 
was  never  thought  whether  the  act  was  passed 
by  a  great  or  a  small  majority.     It  did  not 


46         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

matter,  since  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Associa- 
tion was  given  possession  of  the  property. 
The  responsibility  was  taken  without  one 
dollar  of  appropriation  from  the  State  or 
any  source  of  revenue  whatever.  But  this 
handful  of  earnest,  devoted  women  left  the 
State  Capitol  with  the  determination  to  redeem 
their  trust  and  cause  the  State  of  Tennessee  to 
rejoice  at  the  hour  when  it  gave  the  beautiful 
Hermitage  into  the  care  and  keeping  of  the 
Ladies'  Hermitage  Association. 

The  act  passed  on  April  5,  1889,  and  was 
approved  by  Gov.  Robert  L.  Taylor  on  April 
6,  and  the  Ladies'  Heimitage  Association  was 
ready  to  enter  upon  its  trust. 

The  act  of  conveyance  called  for  nine  trus- 
tees— 'two  from  East  Tennessee,  two  from 
West  Tennessee,  and  five  from  Middle  Tennes- 
see. These  were  to  be  commissioned  by  the 
Governor  upon  "recommendation  of  the  La- 
dies' Hermitage  Association."  My  husband, 
being  a  newspaper  man,  was  well  acquainted 
with  prominent  men  all  over  the  State,  and  I 
had  him  select  the  names  of  nine  gentlemen  for 
me  to  nominate  as  trustees  to  the  Governor. 
Very  soon  after  the  Legislature  adjourned  my 


The  Charter  Taken  Out,  47 

husband  went  with  me  to  Governor  Taylor's 
office  at  the  State  Capitol.  Then  and  there  the 
first  nine  trustees  were  nominated  before  the 
Governor,  and  he  had  the  necessary  commis- 
sions sent  to  them.  Governor  Taylor's  only 
choice  was  Adolph  S.  Ochs,  of  Chattanooga. 
These  trustees  were :  Ex-Gov.  James  D.  Porter, 
Paris,  Tenn. ;  Dr.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  Nash- 
ville, Tenn. ;  Gen.  W.  H.  Jackson,  Nashville, 
Tenn. ;  Ex-Gov.  John  C.  Brown,  Nashville, 
Tenn. ;  L.  F.  Benson,  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  W. 
R.  French,  Tullahoma,  Tenn.;  E.  S.  Mallory, 
Jackson,  Tenn. ;  Adolph  S.  Ochs,  Chattanooga, 
Tenn. ;  and  H.  H.  Ingersoll,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Before  selecting  these  gentlemen  I  had 
talked  with  L.  F.  Benson,  Dr.  Lindsley,  and 
probably  others  who  were  interested.  Mr. 
Benson  suggested  W.  R.  French,  and  Governor 
Taylor  himself  selected  Adolph  S.  Ochs.  Then 
the  writer,  as  Secretary,  called  a  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Tnistees,  and  the  first  meeting  was 
held  in  the  office  of  Dr.  J.  B.  Lindsley  at  the 
Capitol.  Ex-Governor  Porter  was  elected 
President  and  Dr.  Lindsley  Secretary. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  By-Laws  Are  Made. 

One  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  convey- 
ance of  the  twenty-five  acres  from  the  Legis- 
lature was  that  the  trustees  be  empowered  to 
**make  and  enforce  such  by-laws  as  may  be 
necessary  to  put  into  operation  and  continual 
execution  the  objects  and  purposes  for  which 
this  trust  is  created."  That  w^as  more  than 
twenty-five  years  ago.  Women  had  not  dem- 
onstrated their  abihty  to  do  things  as  at  pres- 
ent, and  the  wise  solons  no  doubt  thought  that 
the  women  would  never  be  able  to  "make  and 
enforce  by-laws."  Even  so  the  provisions  of 
the  act  remain  to  this  present  day,  and  the 
Association  must  work  under  the  by-laws  as 
given  by  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

The  by-laws  have  been  amended  several 
times  at  the  request  and  suggestion  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  as  the  needs  and  require- 
ments of  the  Association  developed,  but  the 
making  of  them  still  rests  with  the  trustees. 
It  may  be  added  that  thev  have  been  ver>'  satis- 

^48) 


The  By-Laws  Are  Made,  49 

factor}';  and  it  is  very  well  that  the  matter 
stands  as  it  does,  for  it  saves  complications. 

After  the  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  and  the  appointment  of  a  By-Law 
Committee,  on  that  same  day  that  committee 
made  the  by-laws.  The  committee  appointed 
consisted  of  Dr.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  of  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  E.  S.  Mallory,  of  Jackson,  Tenn., 
and  W.  R.  French,  of  Tullahoma,  Tenn. 
These  three  gentlemen  met  at  the  residence  of 
Mrs.  Mar}^  L.  Baxter,  that  lady  and  the  writer 
of  these  annals  being  present. 

In  these  by-laws  paragraph  2  reads:  "The 
first  biennial  meeting  of  the  Association  shall 
be  held  on  the  third  Wednesday  in  May,  1889, 
and  every  two  years  thereafter  at  such  place  in 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  as  may  be  designated  in  the 
call."  This  by-law^  is  as  unalterable  as  the  law 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians  and  must  never  be 
evaded. 

The  first  biennial  election  was  held  at  the 
residence  of  Mrs.  J.  B.  Lindsley.  Again  it 
was  my  privilege  to  select  the  first  Board  of 
Directors.  Dr.  Lindsley  and  l^.Ir.  Benson  were 
the  advisers  of  the  writer.  Tlie  following 
Board  was  elected  and  the  other  offices  filled  as 
4 


50         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

follows:  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Baxter,  Sr.,  Regent; 
IMrs.  A.  S.  Colyar,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  J. 
M.  Dickinson,  Second  Vice  Regent ;  Mrs.  D.  R. 
Dorris,  Secretary;  Mrs.  William  Morrow,  Mrs. 
John  Ruhm,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Donelson,  directors; 
L.  F.  Benson,  Treasurer;  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Bax- 
ter, Sr.,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Dickinson,  and  Mrs.  W.  A. 
Donelson,  Executive  Committee;  Col.  J.  M. 
Crews,  Memphis,  Tenn.,  General  Agent.  Nine 
ladies  were  elected  directors,  but  two  took  no 
interest  and  were  soon  dropped. 

And  now  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
must  begin  the  work  of  putting  money  into  its 
purse  to  carry  out  the  obligations  of  its  trust. 
It  had  accepted  a  great  work  and  a  difficult  one 
without  one  dollar  of  appropriation  from  the 
State  or  any  resource  whatever.  The  Associa- 
tion hoped  to  raise  the  money  by  private  sub- 
scriptions and  by  giving  such  entertainments 
as  might  be  possible. 

Knowing  that  funds  would  be  needed  before 
anything  at  all  could  be  done,  the  writer,  as- 
sisted by  Miss  Will  Allen  Dromgoole,  on  April 
10,  II,  and  12,  1889,  produced  the  beautiful  lit- 
tle operetta  "Birds  of  Tennessee"  at  the  Ven- 
dome  Theater  for  the  benefit  of  the  Ladies' 


The  By-Laws  Are  Made,  51 

Hermitage  Association.  The  operetta  was 
Miss  Dromgoole's  own  composition.  It  was  a 
most  pleasing  musical  extravaganza  and  was 
well  patronized.  Miss  Dromgoole  personally 
superintended  the  production,  while  the  writer 
gathered  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  children 
and  grown  people  to  participate,  rented  the  the- 
ater, and  was  advertising  agent,  business  mana- 
ger, and  general  utility  man.  We  had  wonder- 
ful success  and  cleared  about  $125,  which  was 
put  in  a  bank  for  the  needs  of  the  Association 
at  its  first  call. 

Aside  from  the  money  spent  for  the  charter, 
there  were  a  number  of  incidental  expenses, 
which  were  personally  paid  by  the  writer. 

Mrs.  W.  A.  Donelson  contributed  ten  dollars 
from  her  "Old  Folks'  Concert"  receipts,  and 
afterwards  she  gave  an  "Old  Folks'  Concert" 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Association,  turning  over 
to  the  Association  forty  dollars  as  the  result 
of  her  efforts. 

■  This  small  sum  of  money  represented  the  en- 
tire assets  of  a  great  enterprise  that  was  to  in- 
terest the  whole  nation  and  build  up  a  suitable 
memorial  to  our  great  hero,  Andrew  Jackson. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  Gen. 


52  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

William  H.  Jackson,  who  had  had  much  experi- 
ence in  such  matters,  advised  that  I  get  out  ter 
thousand  booklets  to  send  broadcast  over  the 
land  for  advertising  purposes.  Acting  under 
this  advice,  I  prepared  a  booklet,  containing 
an  address  to  the  public,  the  names  of  the  trus- 
tees and  directors,  the  charter  of  incorporation, 
the  act  of  the  Legislature,  and  the  by-laws, 
making  sixteen  pages.  The  address  to  the 
public  in  this  booklet  is  even  now  good  matter 
and  may  interest  the  present-day  reader.  It  is 
as  follows: 

An  Appem.  to  the  Public. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  has 
assigned  to  the  care  of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Associa- 
tion the  house  and  tomb  of  General  Jackson  and  twenty- 
five  surrounding  acres  to  improve,  beautify,  and  keep 
forever  in  perpetual  memory  of  the  great  hero. 

The  Association  proposes  to  do  its  work  thoroughly — 
to  purchase  the  relics,  to  renovate  the  house,  to  beautify 
the  grounds,  and  to  make  the  Hermitage  the  most  beau- 
tiful spot,  as  it  has  been  the  most  interesting  spot,  in  all 
the  Southland.  It  will  be  a  national  museum,  inviting 
pilgrims  from  the  North,  the  South,  the  East,  and  the 
West,  who  will  delight  to  honor  the  memory  of  him 
who  said :  "The  Federal  Union  must  and  shall  be  pre- 
served." 

The  Association  proposes  to  keep  in  continual  repair 
the   house   and   tomb  and   ground^.     For   many  years 


The  By-Laws  Are  Made.  53 

nothing  has  been  done  in  this  regard.  There  is  conse- 
quently great  need  for  a  repairing  fund,  and  the  first 
money  collected  into  the  treasury  will  be  devoted  to 
restoring  to  its  original  beauty  the  grand  old  historic 
mansion,  the  tomb,  and  to  adorning  the  grounds. 

The  Association  also  wishes  to  purchase  the  relics 
and  furniture  now  at  the  Hermitage  and  owned  by  Col. 
Andrew  Jackson  and  which  have  been  pledged  to  said 
Association.  These  relics  are  both  valuable  and  inter- 
esting, and  a  large  sum  of  money  will  be  required  to 
purchase  them.  It  will  readily  be  seen  that  to  put  the 
homestead  in  thorough  repair,  to  purchase  the  relics, 
and  to  create  an  endov/ment  fund  by  which  the  Asso- 
ciation is  to  become  self-sustaining,  a  large  sum  of 
money  will  be  required. 

The  Association  is  national  in  its  character,  as  An- 
drew Jackson  was  national  in  reputation.  He  belonged 
to  the  people,  and  to  them  the  Association  now  appeals 
for  assistance  in  this  great  work. 

The  by-laws  require  a  membership  fee  of  one  dollar. 
By  this  means  the  Association  hopes  to  realize  at  least 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  as  it  is  the  belief 
that  there  are  fully  that  many  citizens  in  the  United 
States  who  would  gladly  give  that  sum  to  the  restora- 
tion of  "Old  Hickory's"  home.  Contributions  of  any 
sum  from  one  dollar  or  less  to  any  great  sum  a  munifi- 
cent benefactor  may  be  willing  to  give  are  solicited. 
Any  contribution  may  be  sent  to  the  Treasurer,  L.  F. 
Benson,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  will  be  receipted  by  him 
and  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  Association.  We  hope 
that  this  appeal  will  strike  the  keynote  of  patriotism 
and  that  in  a  very  few  years  the  home  of  Andrew 
Jackson,  the  beautiful  Hermitage,  will  be  the  Mecca  of 


54         Presentation  of  the  Hermitage. 

all  true  patriots  in  the  United   States  and  of  historic 
interest  to  the  touring  stranger. 

Mrs.  Nathaxiel  Baxter,  Sr.,  Regent; 

Mrs.  a.  S.  Colyar,  First  Vice  Regent; 

Mrs.  J.  M.  Dickinson,  Second  Vice  Regent; 

Mrs.  D.  R.  Dorris,  Secretary. 

Ten  thousand  of  these  booklets  were  printed, 
costing  about  one  hundred  dollars  of  the  little 
fund.  At  that  time  the  writer  had  not  an 
idea  how  great  a  bulk  ten  thousand  booklets 
would  make,  and  her  house  w^as  entirely  over- 
run with  them.  They  were  in  every  closet  and 
on  every  available  shelf.  It  was  too  many  to 
get  out  at  one  time;  but  they  have  served  a 
good  purpose,  and  to. this  day,  after  twenty- 
five  years,  they  are  still  doing  duty  as  a  matter 
of  information. 

If  the  writer  was  going  to  be  the  Secretary, 
she  knew^  that  she  would  need  a  minute  book; 
so  she  invited  Mrs.  Lindsley  to  go  with  her 
to  purchase  one.  This  book  showed  her  faith 
in  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association,  for  she 
purchased  a  leather-bound  "cap-size"  record 
book  of  seven  hundred  pages.  This  book  did 
duty  for  sixteen  years,  from  the  organization, 
May  1 6,  1889,  to  May,  1905.  It  is  a  complete 
record  of  all  the  transactions  of  the  Associa- 


The  By-Laws  Are  Made.  55 

tion  during  that  time.  All  of  its  struggles,  all 
of  its  enterprises,  all  of  its  successes  are  here 
recorded  and  may  be  preserved  forever. 

When  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
took  possession  of  the  Hermitage  it  found  the 
property  in  a  state  of  extreme  dilapidation. 
The  fences  were  down,  and  the  lawn  had 
grown  up  in  sprouts  as  high  as  a  man's  head. 
The  house  v\^as  in  bad  shape.  The  roof  leaked, 
shutters  were  off,  glass  panes  were  out  of  the 
windows,  and  the  old  historic  cabin  was  a  tum- 
bling ruin. 

During  the  Civil  War  Gen.  George  H. 
Thomas,  commandant  of  the  post  at  Nashville, 
had  placed  an  armed  guard  at  the  Hermitage 
to  protect  it  during  the  internecine  strife. 
While  this  prevented  the  house  from  being 
pillaged  and  the  outhouses  from  being  burned, 
it  did  not  check  the  ravages  of  time. 

The  adopted  son,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr., 
after  selling  the  place  to  the  State  of  Tennes- 
see in  1856,  moved  from  there  in  1858  to  a 
Mississippi  plantation.  At  the  invitation  and 
solicitation  of  Gov.  Isham  G.  Harris  he  re- 
turned to  the  Hermitage  at  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Civil  War,  probably  in  186 1.     He  died 


56         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

there  in  1865,  and  his  widow  remained  as  cus- 
todian until  her  death,  in  1887.  Col.  Andrew 
Jackson  III.  lived  at  the  Hermitage,  his  moth- 
er's support  and  protector.  They  knew  not 
what  day  they  would  be  asked  to  surrender 
possession  of  the  property,  therefore  they 
did  not  make  repairs,  nor  did  they  have  the 
means  to  sustain  so  large  a  place.  The  State 
did  nothing,  with  the  exception  of  putting  an 
iron  rail  around  the  tomb,  which  was  done 
during  the  administration  of  Gov.  William  B. 
Bate,  when  he  was  the  State's  chief  executive, 
in  1882.  There  was  ever}'thing  to  do  and  no 
money  to  do  it  with,  and  the  very  first  problem 
was  to  determine  how  to  gatlier  money  to  carry 
on  the  work. 

Edward  Everett  had  gone  out  over  the  en- 
tire nation  and  lectured  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Mount  Vernon  Association.  He  was  the  finest 
orator  in  the  United  States,  and  he  turned 
over  to  that  Association  the  munificent  sum  of 
$69,964,  but  not  until  they  too  had  struggled 
and  almost  failed.  The  Ladies'  Hermitage 
Association  had  no  such  champion;  but  its 
promoters  thought  that  by  solicitation  alone 
monev  in  sufficient  sums  would  flow  into  its 


The  By-Lardjs  Are  Made.  57 

coffers  and  that  $150,000  would  soon  be  raised. 
But  not  so.  The  money  came  in  slowly  and 
by  the  most  strenuous  efforts.  Y.\tvy  kind  of 
entertainment  was  given  here  in  the  city  of 
its  founding,  from  a  ten-cent  mirror  show  to 
the  Theodore  Thomas  Orchestra  concerts. 

The  mirror  show  proved  the  best  money- 
maker. The  Theodore  Thomas  Orchestra 
proved  a  disastrous  venture,  and  the  Associa- 
tion had  to  pay  a  large  deficit.  It  was  the  only 
losing  proposition  ever  entered  into.  There 
were  four  concerts,  costing  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  each.  The  Mendelssohn  Quintet  Club 
netted  to  the  Association  two  hundred  dollars. 
It  was  managed  by  the  Secretary  and  Mrs. 
Maggie  L.  Hicks,  a  director,  who  sold  one 
hundred  dollars'  worth  of  tickets.  Blind  Tom 
played  under  the  auspices  of  the  Association 
twice,  the  first  time  netting  two  hundred  dol- 
lars and  the  second  seventy-five  dollars.  Miss 
Louise  Baxter,  daughter  of  the  first  Regent, 
brought  in  many  contributions. 

Mrs.  John  G.  Carlisle  gave  a  concert  in 
Washington  City  for  the  benefit  of  the  Asso- 
ciation and  sent  as  a  net  result  six  hundred 
dollars  on  May  i,  1894.     Emma  Abbott,  the 


58         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

prima  donna,  presented  to  the  Association  one 
hundred  dollars,  and  the  Nashville  Hibernian 
Society  made  a  donation  of  twenty-five  dol- 
lars. Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Hibernian  Society  of  Philadelphia  in 
18 19.  Other  friends  in  Washington  City 
helped  gather  funds,  notably  Mrs.  Joseph  E. 
Washington,  wife  of  the  Congressman  from 
the  Hermitage  District,  Hon.  James  L.  Norris, 
and  Miss  Mary  E.  Wilcox,  whose  mother  was 
born  at  the  White  House  during  Jackson's 
administration. 

The  Andrew  Jackson  Club  in  Chicago  sent 
substantial  assistance;  and  our  sister  city  of 
Memphis  gave  two  splendid  Jackson  Day  balls, 
which  netted  six  hundred  and  seventy  dollars 
to  the  Association.  A  number  of  individuals 
contributed  as  much  as  one  hundred  dollars, 
some  fifty,  others  twenty-five,  ten,  and  on 
down  to  the  one  dollar  membership  fee — all 
helping  to  swell  the  fund  for  the  patriotic 
work.  Little  by  little  the  funds  were  accumu- 
lated, and  little  by  little  the  work  of  repairing 
went  on. 

No  salaries  have  ever  been  paid  to  any 
member  of  the  Association.     At  one  time  a 


The  By-Lcnvs  Are  Made.  59 

very  capable  lady,  Mrs.  C.  P.  Wright,  who  was 
called  the  Secretary  at  Large,  was  engaged. 
By  a  \'igorous  canvass  she  brought  in  a  con- 
siderable amount  and  was  given  twenty  per 
cent  of  all  moneys  collected. 

As  pointed  out  in  the  letter  of  Mrs.  Philodea 
Eve,  the  Mount  Vernon  precedent  and  organ- 
ization did  not  exactly  suit  that  of  the  Ladies' 
Hermitage  Association.  The  very  fact  that 
the  property  was  owned  by  the  State  prevented 
contributions  in  many  instances.  A  notable 
one  was  that  of  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  who  was 
solicited  for  a  contribution.  He  said :  "I  do 
not  see  how  it  is  possible  that  the  State  of 
Tennessee  could  allow  any  one  to  aid  in  pre- 
serving Andrew  Jackson's  home."  And  yet 
was  not  Andrew  Jackson  a  national  hero? 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  make  a  state- 
ment in  regard  to  a  matter  which  has  caused 
much  misunderstanding  and  will  continue  to 
do  so  unless  explained.  When  the  by-laws 
were  made.  Dr.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  a  warm 
friend  and  constant  adviser  of  the  writer  in  all 
the  work  she  was  doing,  had  inserted  in  the 
by-laws  the  clause  "and  receive  for  her  service 
a  salary  of  twenty-five  dollars  per  month." 


6o         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Dr.  Lindsle}'  had  said  to  the  writer  before 
the  by-laws  were  made:  "Now,  you  must  be 
the  Secretary,  for  you  know  that  the  Secre- 
Ury  is  the  drudge  worker."  Dr.  Lindsley 
himself  was  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Board 
of  Health  and  appreciated  the  duties  of  secre- 
tary. At  a  general  meeting  of  all  the  mem- 
bers on  March  24,  1897,  there  was  a  large 
attendance.  In  the  minutes  of  that  day,  on 
page  300  of  the  minute  book,  there  is  the 
following  self-explanatory  entr}': 

Mrs.    Mary   L,    Baxter,    Regent,    and    Mrs.    Albert    S. 

Marks,  Acting  Regent : 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  hereby  donate  to  the  Ladies' 
Hermitage  Association  any 'and  all  amounts  due  me  as 
Secretary  of  the  Association  for  the  past  eight  years. 
This  receipt  is  given  inasmuch  as  at  the  last  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  it  was  at  my  request  that  by- 
law No.  5  was  amended  by  striking  out  the  words  "and 
receive  for  her  service  a  salary  of  twenty-five  dollars 
per  month."  This  salary  I  have  never  drawn,  knowing 
full  well  the  inability  of  the  Association  to  pay  such 
a  salary  and  believing  that  the  service  should  be  gra- 
tuitous. 

In  Ma5%  1^2,  I  managed  the  May  Musical  Festival 
of  Theodore  Thomas  for  the  benefit  of  the  Association. 
There  was  a  deficit  of  $336.70,  which  the  Association 
paid  and  which  was  accredited  to  me  as  back  salary, 
but  from  which  I  received  no  personal  benefit. 

I  make  these  statements  and  present  this  receipt  that 


The  By-Laws  Are  Made.  6i 

there  may  be  no  future  legal  complications  arising  and 
that  the  gift  of  this  salary,  to  which  I  was  legally  en- 
titled, be  full  and  free  to  this  Association  and  not  sub- 
ject to  the  claims  of  either  myself,  my  heirs,  or  assigns. 

I  hereby  give  my  receipt  in  full. 

Very  respectfully, 

Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris^  Secretary. 

March  24,  1897. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Option  on  the  Relics — Active  Work 

Begun. 

Closely  following  upon  the  first  biennial 
election  a  meeting  was  called  by  Mrs.  Mary  L. 
Baxter  at  her  home  June  i8,  1889,  which  was 
the  very  first  meeting  of  the  new  organization. 
It  is  worth  while  to  note  the  names  of  those 
present,  representing  almost  the  entire  strength 
of  the  Association  at  that  time.  These  were 
Mesdames  Nathaniel  'Baxter,  William  Mor- 
row, J.  M.  Dickinson,  A.  S.  Colyar,  John 
Ruhm,  W.  A.  Donelson,  and  D.  R.  Dorris. 

To  carry  out  the  national  idea  the  effort 
was  made  to  appoint  vice  regents  in  every  State 
of  the  Union,  and  the  following  ladies  were 
appointed:  Mrs.  Grover  Geveland,  of  New 
York;  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  of  Illinois;  Mrs. 
A.  K.  McClure,  of  Pennsylvania;  Mrs.  Judge 
Grant,  of  Iowa;  Mrs.  William  Mack,  of  In- 
diana; Mrs.  Lee,  of  Virginia;  Mrs.  Merrick, 
of  Louisiana;  ]\Irs.  William  E.  Eakin,  of  Con- 
necticut; Mrs.  W.  C.  P.  Breckenridge,  of  Ken- 
(62) 


option  on  Relics — Active  Work  Begun.  63 

tucky;  Mrs.  Henry  W.  Grady,  of  Georgia;  and 
Mrs.  Ellen  Call  Long,  of  Florida.  They  were 
notified  by  the  Secretary,  but  none  of  them 
took  up  the  work  nor  did  anything,  with  the 
single  exception  of  Mrs.  Ellen  Call  Long,  of 
Florida,  whose  father,  General  Call,  was  one 
of  Jackson's  aids.    Later  others  were  selected. 

The  immediate  business  of  the  meeting  was 
to  arrange  all  the  details  of  an  excursion  to  the 
Hermitage  and  of  the  concerts  to  be  given  dur- 
ing the  meeting  of  the  National  Educational 
Association  in  Nashville  in  July. 

This  was  the  very  first  effort  of  the  new 
Association  after  organization  was  effected. 
The  Hermitage  w^as  then  thrown  open  for  the 
first  time  in  its  history  as  a  public  institution. 
The  date  was  from  July  17  to  20,  1889.  It 
was  a  difilicult  matter  to  handle  owing  to  the 
great  inaccessibility  of  the  place.  Boats  were 
chartered,  landing  on  the  Cum_berland  River 
three  miles  distant  from  the  Hermitage.  It 
was  the  landing  from  which  General  Jackson 
shipped  his  cotton  to  New  Orleans  and  received 
from  there  sugar,  molasses,  and  other  supplies 
for  the  plantation,  and  often  furniture  and 
household  articles  not  to  be  procured  in  Nash- 


64         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

ville.  Trips  were  made  by  rail,  the  station 
also  being  three  miles  from  the  Hermitage. 
Either  vray  there  was  a  three-mile  drive  to  be 
made  ere  the  Hermitage  was  reached.  Wag- 
ons were  engaged,  and  after  meeting  the  train 
they  had  the  trip  to  m.ake  to  the  river  over 
a  rough  and  unused  road.  About  one  thou- 
sand persons  visited  the  Hermitage  during  the 
four  days,  and  a  great  advertisement  was  given 
the  enterprise,  but  very  little  money  was  left 
in  the  treasur}^  after  all  the  expenses  were  paid. 

An  interesting  event  of  the  occasion  was  the 
arrival  at  the  Hermitage,  just  one  hour  before 
the  first  pleasure  wa^n  of  excursionists  got 
there,  of  a  little  stranger,  the  last  one  of  the 
Jackson  name  ever  to  be  born  at  the  Hermitage. 
The  visitors  were  much  interested  in  the  new 
arrival ;  and  a  committee  of  the  educators  pre- 
sented the  little  boy  with  an  up-to-date  primer, 
laying  the  baby  hands  upon  it  when  he  was  but 
a  few  hours  old.  The  President  of  the  Na- 
tional Educational  Association  was  Albert 
Prescott  ]Marble,  a  most  worthy  gentleman 
from  New  England,  and  the  little  fellow  was 
named  Albert  Marble  Jackson  in  his  honor. 

On   June   25,    1889,    another   meeting   was 


option  on  Relics — Active  Work  Begun,  65 

held  by  the  Board  of  Directors  to  take  action 
upon  an  option  given  by  Col.  Andrew  Jackson 
on  the  relics.  At  the  time  the  Ladies'  Hermit- 
age Association  was  organized  the  relics,  fur- 
niture, and  belongings  were  all  in  the  house, 
just  as  they  had  been  in  General  Jackson's  life- 
time. There  were  beautiful  and  costly  things 
there,  for  General  Ja,ckson's  house  was  a  per- 
fect and  handsome*  type  of  the  old  Southern 
homestead,  and  all  the  furnishings  were  not 
only  pretty  but  elegant. 

The  house  is  a  large  two-story  brick,  with 
a  spacious  central  hall  and  rooms  opening  into 
it  from  each  side.  These  rooms,  four  down- 
stairs and  four  upstairs,  are  twenty  feet  square. 
The  two  wings  give  eleven  rooms  in  the  main 
building;  and  while  there  are  not  so  many 
rooms,  it  is  a  large  and  commodious  house. 
Large  porticoes  on  the  front  and  rear,  sup- 
ported by  fluted  columns,  give  a  grand  and 
imposing  appearance  to  the  mansion. 

All  of  these  rooms  were  elegantly  furnished 
with  solid  mahogany,  plain  but  handsome.  All 
of  this  furniture  was  the  property  of  Col.  An- 
drew Jackson,  having  been  willed  to  him  by  his 
mother.     One  of  the  first   thoughts   of   the 

5 


66  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Association  was  to  secure  these  relics  and  this 
furniture,  for  they  were  the  actual  belongings 
of  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  and  were  owned  and 
used  by  him.  There  were  the  bed  he  died  upon 
and  his  room  just  as  it  was  the  day  he  died, 
June  8,  1845.  There  were  mirrors,  portraits, 
tables,  chairs,  bedsteads,  sofas,  and,  in  fact, 
all  the  belongings  of  a  well-to-do  Southern 
household. 

On  these  relics  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Jackson 
gave  an  option  for  $17,500  and  four  years' 
time  for  all  that  was  in  the  house,  including 
silver,  cut  glass,  souvenirs,  bric-a-brac,  etc.,  to 
the  number  of  five 'hundred  articles,  w'hich 
were  catalogued  and  given  in  the  option. 
Colonel  and  Mrs.  Jackson  continued  to  reside 
at  the  Hermitage  as  its  custodians,  awaiting 
the  result  of  the  efforts  of  the  Association  to 
raise  the  fund  for  the  purchase  of  the  relics. 

The  Association  not  having  possession  of 
the  Hermitage  farm.  Colonel  Jackson  was  left 
entirely  without  resource;  and  as  there  was 
not  a  superabundance  of  money  coming  in,  it 
was  difficult  to  make  suitable  arrangements 
for  his  necessary  expenses.  A  plan  was  made 
by  which  lie  was  to  receive  three  per  cent  on 


option  on  Relics — Active  Work  Begun.  6y 

the  value  tied  up  in  the  relics.  This  was  paid 
part  of  the  time;  but  all  arrangements  proved 
more  or  less  unsatisfactory,  for  the  needs  of 
his  family  were  not  sufficiently  provided  for. 

To  redeem  the  Association's  trust  to  the 
State  it  was  necessary  that  the  bulk  of  the 
funds  accumulated  be  devoted  to  the  work  of 
repairing  and  improving.    The  very  first  work 
done  was  on  the  old  historic  cabin,  which  was 
the  first  home  of  Andrew  Jackson  on  the  Her- 
mitage farm.    This  old  log  house,  at  once  a  re- 
minder of  pioneer  days  as  well  as  a  reminder  of 
Andrew  Jackson,  was  at  one  time  a  two-story 
building,  with  other  log  houses  around  it,  and 
was  erected  in  1804.    Aaron  Burr  was  enter- 
tained there  in  1805.    The  little  baby  boy,  An- 
drew Jackson,  Jr.,  the  son  of  his  adoption, 
was  taken  there  in   1809,  and  in   1815  Gen. 
Andrew  Jackson  returned  to  its  humble  doors 
a  conquering  hero  and  the  idol  of  the  nation. 
In   this  block   house   hospitality   reigned   su- 
preme, and  it  is  said  that  in  his  home  "the 
humblest  peddler  was  as  welcome  as  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States"  and  that  Andrew 
Jackson  was  the  "prince  of  hospitality." 


68         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

From  the  minutes  of  the  Association  is  taken 

the  following : 

Shortly  after  the  National  Educational  Association 
excursions  in  July  [1889]  the  precarious  condition  of 
the  old  historic  cabin  was  pointed  out  to  the  Secretary; 
and,  although  limited  in  funds,  the  order  was  given  and 
a  contract  made  for  its  proper  restoration.  The  chim- 
ney had  fallen,  the  sills  on  one  side  were  rotted  away, 
and  its  downfall  seemed  imminent.  Several  visits  were 
made  to  the  Hermitage  during  its  renovation  by  the 
Regent  and  Secretary,  that  its  historic  character  might 
not  be  lost,  and  the  cabin  was  restored  as  near  to  its 
original  character  as  possible.  The  chimney  was  re- 
built of  the  same  fallen  brick  and  in  the  same  style. 
Six  new  sills  were  added.  A  new  board  roof  was  put 
in  the  place  of  the  one  that  had  been  lost  by  decay  and 
a  new  floor  put  in. 

The  old  pieces  of  wood  not  decayed  were 
used  to  make  souvenirs— -dainty  match  safes 
and  toothpick  holders — and  all  sold  well  to 
visitors  going  to  the  Hermitage. 

When  the  work  of  renovation  was  going  on, 
the  carpenters  doing  the  work  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Regent  and  Secretary  to  the  beaded 
joists  forming  the  ceiling  of  the  first  floor 
room,  but  w^hich  are  now  supporting  the 
ground  floor  and  which  can  be  seen  only  by 
looking  up  under  the  house  as  it  now  stands. 

Cornelius  Hankins,  then  a  vouno:  artist,  vis- 


option  on  Relics — Active  Work  Begun.  69 

ited  the  Hermitage  the  day  after  the  Associa- 
tion was  given  possession  and  asked  permis- 
sion of  Col.  Andrew  Jackson  to  paint  a  picture 
of  the  cabin  and  was  referred  to  the  Regent. 
The  artist  came  back  to  the  city,  and  that  night 
a  heavy  windstorm  blew  down  the  chimney 
and  careened  the  whole  cabin,  making  it  all 
the  more  picturesque  for  the  artist's  purpose, 
but  causing  dismay  to  the  Association.  A 
copy  of  the  picture  was  presented  to  the  Asso- 
ciation by  the  artist,  and  it  may  now  be  seen 
at  the  Hermitage  in  the  relic  collection  of  in- 
teresting articles  and  shows  one  of  the  things 
that  the  Association  had  to  contend  with. 

The  old  block  house  was  changed  by  Gen- 
eral Jackson  himself  from  the  two-story  to  a 
one-story  house  and  was  used  for  years  as  one 
of  the  cabins  for  the  habitation  of  his  negro 
slaves.  The  brick  house  on  the  present  site 
was  built  in  18 19.  General  Jackson  said  that 
he  built  it  for  his  wife,  that  she  might  have 
the  comforts  of  a  suitable  home  after  his 
death.  His  health  was  much  broken  by  his 
arduous  campaigns,  and  his  thought  was  that 
the  woman  he  loved  would  long  survive  him. 

But  such  was  not  the  case;  for  his  beloved 


70         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Rachel  died  at  the  Hermitage  December  22, 
1828,  just  before  the  President  elect  left  his 
home  for  Washington  City  to  be  inaugurated 
President  of  the  United  States.  She  did  not 
live  to  share  his  triumphs  nor  to  sustain  him  in 
his  greater  work  to  the  nation. 

The  brick  house  was  burned  in  1834  while 
Jackson  was  absent  at  Washington,  when  the 
adopted  son,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  and  his 
family  were  sojourning  there.  It  was  rebuilt 
in  1835  upon  the  same  site  and  in  very  much 
the  same  style. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter. 

It  seems  that  the  Association,  through  all 
its  vicissitudes,  had  moments  of  inspiration; 
and  it  was  some  such  moment  as  this  which 
prompted  the  writer,  after  the  Association  was 
founded  and  chartered,  to  ask  ^Mrs.  Mary  L. 
Baxter,  w4fe  of  Judge  Nathaniel  Baxter,  to 
become  its  Regent.  Mrs.  Baxter  was  a  woman 
of  much  culture,  fine  intellect,  and  great  experi- 
ence in  organized  work.  She  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  Regent  of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage 
Association  with  a  faithfulness  and  zeal  which 
was  characteristic  of  her  and  which  argued 
well  for  the  Association.  From  the  time  she 
accepted  the  position  until  laid  upon  a  bed 
of  illness,  during  a  period  of  eight  years,  she 
showed  an  untiring  zeal  and  energy  that  many 
a  younger  woman  might  have  envied,  giving 
almost  her  entire  time  and  thought  to  the  work. 
She  was  prominent  in  social  circles  and  had 
a  broad  acquaintance  not  only  in  this  city  and 
State  but  all  over  the  Union.     This  wide  ac- 

(70 


72  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

quaintance  was  of  great  value  to  the  Associa- 
tion and  enabled  her  to  bring  to  her  support 
many  influential  people.  After  the  first  elec- 
tion, when  i\Irs.  Baxter  Avas  made  Regent,  the 
Secretar>%  who  lived  only  two  blocks  away, 
often  ran  up  to  see  her  on  business  of  the  Asso- 
ciation or  talked  with  her  over  the  telephone, 
until  it  was  laughingly  said :  "The  Ladies'  Her- 
mitage Association  is  always  in  session." 

In  these  early  days  efforts  were  made  to 
interest  as  many  persons  as  possible.  Meetings 
were  held  whenever  necessary,  but  it  was  some 
time  before  a  regular,  definite  day  was  settled 
upon.  All  the  meetings  were  held  at  Mrs. 
Baxter's  home. 

The  Association  had  taken  the  trust,  as  has 
been  said  before  in  these  pages,  without  one 
dollar  of  appropriation  from  the  State  and 
conducted  the  work,  repairing  and  improving, 
without  the  State's  aid  for  six  years.  Those 
first  months  were  truly  busy  ones,  and  every- 
body or  organization  that  came  to  the  city  was 
solicited  for  funds.  While  a  great  deal  came 
from  outside  the  State,  the  continued,  persistent 
efforts  were  sustained  by  the  citizens  of  Nash- 
ville. 


Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter,  73 

The  National  Prison  Association,  of  which 
Ex-President  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  was  Pres- 
ident, met  in  this  city,  and  from  it  Mrs. 
Maggie  L.  Hicks,  a  most  heroic  worker,  se- 
cured forty  members.  The  Prison  Association 
was  taken  on  an  excursion  to  the  Hermitage. 
Of  it  I  find  in  the  minutes,  under  the  date  of 
November  12,  1889,  the  following:  "The 
Association  finds  a  greater  gain  in  these  excur- 
sions than  in  almost  any  other  form  of  adver- 
tising, the  beautiful  Hermitage  and  its  inter- 
esting relics  speaking  for  themselves." 

Another  fine  source  of  revenue,  and  one  of 
the  best-patronized  events,  was,  and  is,  the  an- 
nual celebration  of  Jackson  Day,  January  8, 
the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans. 
The  custom  is  to  give  a  brilliant  ball,  as  that 
was  the  mode  of  entertainment  in  Jackson's 
time.  An  effort  has  always  been  made  to  give 
the  ball  a  historic  feature,  and  many  pretty 
ideas  have  developed  as  each  Regent  put  her 
best  thought  into  it. 

The  first  celebration  of  Jackson  Day  after 
organization  was  such  a  beautiful  affair  that 
it  is  even  now  remembered  with  pleasure.  It 
was  a  historic  costume  reception,  and  Andrew 


74         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson,  the  Cabinet,  and 
diplomatic  corps  were  personated  by  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  the  city.  Handsome  engraved 
cards  of  invitation  were  issued,  fifteen  hundred 
in  number.  An  admission  card  was  inclosed, 
for  which  three  dollars  was  charged  for  two 
persons. 

Copying  from  the  minutes  of  January  13, 
we  find  the  following : 

The  day  was  a  grand  success.  The  citizens  entered 
heartily  into  the  enthusiasm  of  the  day,  and  the  city 
was  elaborately  decorated  with  bunting  for  the  occasion. 
It  was  a  general  holiday,  and  the  streets  were  thronged 
with  people.  Col.  Jere  Baxter  called  out  the  militia; 
and  the  day,  which  was  bright,  beautiful,  and  balmy,  the 
sunshine  glorious,  began  with  a  grand  military  pageant 
through  the  streets,  in  which  prominent  citizens  acted 
as  marshals,  Governor  Taylor  and  his  staff  also  par- 
ticipating. The  troops  passed  in  review  before  Governor 
Taylor  and  staff  and  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
on  the  south  side  of  the  State  Capitol.  Entering  the 
Capitol,  speeches  were  made  by  prominent  citizens,  and 
the  Jackson  Club  was  formed,  with  Col.  A.  K.  McClure 
as  President.  The  Jackson  flower,  the  hyacinth,  was 
largely  worn.  Beautiful  floral  tributes  from  President 
Harrison  and  from  the  Governors  of  Connecticut,  New 
Jersey,  Maryland,  Arkansas,  Florida,  and  Wisconsin 
were  placed  on  the  Jackson  statue  and  afterwards 
taken  to  the  Hermitage.  The  floral  tributes  were  pho- 
tographed.   .    .    . 


Mrs,  Mary  L.  Baxter,  75 

The  Andrew  Jackson  Historic  Costume  Reception 
was  a  brilliant  success.  Andrew  Jackson  and  his  wife, 
Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson,  the  entire  Cabinet,  and  diplomatic 
corps  were  personated  by  handsomely  dressed  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  the  most  prominent  people  of  the  city.  An 
interesting  feature  was  the  lighting  of  the  historic  can- 
dle found  in  Lord  Cornwallis's  tent  at  Yorktown.  It 
was  held  aloft  by  Col.  Jeremiah  George  Harris  (at  one 
time  purser  of  the  navy  and  who  represented  General 
Jackson)  and  allowed  to  burn  only  one  minute. 

This  candle  was  presented  to  General  Jack- 
son with  the  suggestion  that  he  light  it  on  every 
8th  day  of  January,  which  custom  he  always 
observed.  The  candle  was  one  of  the  relic 
collection  owned  by  Colonel  Jackson.  The 
gross  receipts  from  this  reception  were  four 
hundred  and  eighty  dollars ;  but  the  net  receipts 
were  rather  small,  for  the  expenses  were  heavy. 

On  March  30,  1890,  the  Association  tried  to 
lease  seventy-five  acres  of  the  woodland  from 
the  soldiers*  home  trustees,  to  pay  therefor  five 
dollars  per  acre.  The  proposition  was  not  ac- 
cepted. I  find  from  the  minutes  that  in  April, 
1890,  a  new  roof  had  been  put  on  the  main 
building  and  all  of  the  outhouses  covered  with 
the  old  tin  which  was  removed.  The  latter,  of 
an  extraordinarily  good  quality,  was  probably 
put  on  when  the  house  was  rebuilt  after  the 


76  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

fire  in  1835.  The  roof  was  in  very  bad  condi- 
tion, leaking  badly,  causing  the  plastering  to 
fall  in  upstairs  bedrooms  and  on  the  porticoes. 

The  pictorial  wall  paper,  representing  the 
"Legend  of  Telemachus,"  was  hanging  in 
shreds  and  threatened  with  destruction.  An 
expert  wall  paper  man  was  sent  out  and  spent 
two  weeks  putting  the  paper  back  on  the  wall. 
As  Mrs.  Baxter  aptly  remarked,  "It  was  like 
so  much  darning'' ;  but  it  was  rescued  from  de- 
struction and  is  now  in  a  very  fair  state  of 
preservation.  A  general  utility  man  was  sent 
there  and  spent  days  repairing  locks,  insert- 
ing lost  screws,  putting  in  window  panes, 
and  doing  like  odd  jobs  that  hardly  showed 
for  the  work  put  ujxin  them,  yet  it  was  much 
needed  and  added  to  the  general  renovation.  A 
new  fence  was  put  around  the  entire  twenty- 
five  acres. 

About  this  time  Mrs.  Baxter  and  her  co- 
workers made  great  efforts  to  get  a  railroad  to 
the  Hermitage,  its  inaccessibility  making  'it 
very  difficult  to  handle  anything  out  there.  All 
repair  work  cost  more,  workmen  were  hard  to 
get,  material  difficult  to  deliver,  and,  in  fact, 
into  every  enterprise  this  inaccessibility  inter- 


Mrs,  Mary  L.  Baxter.  ^y 

jected  itself  disagreeably.  Therefore  one  of 
the  very  first  efforts  was  to  get  a  railroad. 

Mrs.  Maggie  L.  Hicks  and  Mrs.  Isabella 
M.  Clark  had  been  added  to  the  Board  of 
Directors  and  were  made  a  Railroad  Com- 
mittee. They  reported  that  the  probable  cost 
would  be  ten  thousand  dollars  for  four  miles 
of  track,  but  a  regular  railroad  would  cost 
at  least  thirty  thousand  dollars  and  would  be 
a  constant  expense.  However,  the  Nashville, 
Chattanooga,  and  St.  Louis  Railway  made  the 
proposition,  through  IMaj.  J.  W.  Thomas,  to 
build  and  equip  a  road  from  the  station  to  the 
Hermitage  if  the  Association  would  secure  the 
right  of  way  and  raise  five  thousand  dollars. 
It  was  this  sum  that  Mrs.  Baxter  was  working 
for.  She  succeeded  in  getting  three  thousand 
dollars  subscribed,  but  could  never  attain  to  the 
greater  sum,  and  the  plan  was  finally  aban- 
doned. To  this  day  the  crying  need  for  the 
successful  operation  of  the  work  of  the  Asso- 
ciation is  a  railroad  or  a  trolley  line  to  the  old 
historic  Hermitage. 

On  May  20,  1 891,  was  held  the  second  bi- 
ennial election.  In  the  reports  It  was  found 
that  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  had 


78         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

been  raised  and  expended  in  the  two  years. 
The  election  resulted  as  follows :  Mrs.  Mary  L. 
Baxter,  Regent;  Mrs.  Albert  S.  Marks,  First 
Vice  Regent;  I\Irs.  J.  B.  Lindsley,  Second  Vice 
Regent;  Mrs.  D.  R.  Dorris,  Secretary;  Mrs. 
William  Morrow,  Mrs.  John  Ruhm,  Mrs.  W. 
A.  Donelson,  Mrs.  John  M.  Gaut,  Mrs.  Mag- 
gie L.  Hicks,  directors;  Dr.  William  Morrow, 
Treasurer.  While  the  reports  did  not  show  a 
very  large  business,  yet  it  was  still  progressive 
and  in  a  fair  way  to  do  more  and  better  things. 

One  of  the  most  successful  of  the  enter- 
prises of  the  Association  was  a  grand  ball  given 
at  the  Ponce  de  Leon  Hotel,  in  St.  Augustine, 
Fla.,  on  February  4,  1892.  The  hotel  was 
given  the  Association  free  of  charge  by  Mr. 
Henry  M.  Flagler,  the  New  York  millionaire. 
Mrs.  Baxter  and  Mrs.  C.  P.  Wright  visited 
St.  Augustine  and  made  all  the  arrangements, 
and  the  latter  put  it  through.  The  net  result 
was  $2,082,  and  it  was  the  best  enterprise  the 
Association  had  ever  managed.  A  large  dele- 
gation went  from  the  city  of  Nashville.  This 
money  was  put  in  the  bank  as  a  "nest  tgg^'  for 
the  purchase  of  the  relics. 

Acting  under  the  advice  of  Dr.  Lindsley  and 


Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter.  79 

Gen.  W.  H.  Jackson,  the  Legislature  was  asked 
to  appropriate  fifteen  thousand  dollars  for  the 
purchase  of  the  relics,  but  not  then  nor  ever 
afterwards  did  such  effort  succeed. 

The  option  on  the  relics  expired  in  July, 
1893;  and  still,  not  having  secured  the  pur- 
chase money,  there  was  no  alternative  but  to 
allow  the  valuable  collection  to  be  removed  by 
their  owner.  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Jackson  moved 
away  from  the  Hermitage,  taking  with  them 
everything  in  the  house,  leaving  bare  walls  and 
naked  rooms,  in  which  there  was  but  a  memory. 

It  became  necessary  to  engage  a  caretaker 
to  superintend  the  premises  and  protect  it  from 
all  dangers.  A  suitable  man,  one  who  under- 
stood horticulture,  for  there  was  great  need 
in  that  direction,  was  engaged.  It  was  very 
necessary,  with  the  limited  income  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, that  the  caretaker  be  also  a  man  who 
could  give  a  good  day's  work  on  the  grounds 
or  house  if  needed.  The  new  caretaker  did 
good  work  in  the  garden,  which  was  a  perfect 
wilderness  and  overgrown  with  weeds,  and  im- 
proved its  appearance  not  a  little.  He  trans- 
planted bulbs,  moved  shrubs,  cut  down  trees 
which    had    voluntarily    sprung    up,    dug    up 


So         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

sprouts,  and  otherwise  brought  order  out  of 
chaos.  He  remained  at  the  Hermitage  two 
years  and  performed  a  wonderful  amount  of 
very  much  needed  work. 

Then  a  stalwart  young  farmer  from  the 
neighborhood  was  engaged.  He  happened  to 
be  not  only  a  good  farmer  but  a  good  carpen- 
ter, a  fair  painter,  and,  in  fact,  an  ingenious, 
industrious  man,  ready  to  turn  his  hand  to  any- 
thing that  was  needed.  He  had  not  been  long 
married;  and  his  wife,  a  comely  little  matron, 
was  equally  adapted  to  the  work.  Both  fitted 
into  the  place  m.ost  admirably  and  have  proved 
to  be  the  right  persons  in  the  right  place.  The 
fact  that  they  have  continued  in  the  service  of 
the  Association  for  twenty  years  and  at  this 
writing  are  still  there  proves  their  eminent  fit- 
ness for  the  position.  Their  only  child  was 
born  there.  They  have  grown  up,  so  to  speak, 
with  the  Association.  They  understand  its 
needs  and  know  its  wishes  as  well  as  do  the 
members  of  the  Board  themselves.  They  are 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  L.  Baker  and  may  still  be 
found  rendering  faithful  and  efificient  service 
at  the  Hermitage. 

In  1895  Mrs.  Albert  S.  Marks,  wife  of  Ex- 


Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter,  8l 

Governor  Marks  and  First  Vice  Regent  of  the 
Association,  after  consultation  with  the  Board 
of  Directors  and  free  discussion  of  the  subject, 
went  before  the  State  Legislature  and  secured 
an  appropriation  of  fifty  dollars  per  month 
from  that  body,  the  first  that  had  ever  been 
appropriated  by  them  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Association.  This  enabled  the  Board  to  pay 
their  caretaker  without  exertion  on  their  part. 

On  May  2;^,  1895,  an  admission  fee  at  the 
door  was  first  charged;  and  as  there  was  then 
very  little  to  be  seen  inside  the  building,  this 
fee  was  put  at  ten  cents.  As  the  minutes  state, 
this  was  to  "ser\^e  as  a  restraint  to  large  visit- 
ing bodies,  who  were  apt  to  overstep  the  bounds 
of  privilege  while  there,  rather  than  as  a  source 
of  revenue." 

In  1896-97  Mrs.  Baxter's  health,  always  del- 
icate, began  to  fail.  For  eight  years  she  had 
stood  bravely  to  the  forefront,  working  with  a 
zeal  and  a  will  to  see  the  Association  put  upon 
a  firm  foundation.  She  had  seen  a  measure  of 
success  in  the  improved  appearance  of  the  Her- 
mitage house  and  grounds,  though  it  was  far 
from  being  as  she  most  desired  it.  She  saw 
an  Association  still  determined,  still  indefati- 
6 


82  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

gable,  working  to  carry  out  its  trusts ;  and  now 
she  must  leave  it  to  other  hands  and  minds  to 
carry  on  the  work  she  so  loved  and  could  only 
look  on  for  many  more  months  from  her  bed 
of  pain. 

Into  the  hands  of  ]\Irs.  Albert  S.  Marks, 
First  Vice  Regent,  the  work  was  intrusted,  and 
she  took  up  the  burdens  of  administration. 
Mrs.  Baxter  had  been  so  efficient,  so  loyal, 
so  brave,  and  had  carried  on  the  work  so  suc- 
cessfully, even  when  physically  unable  to  take 
upon  herself  any  burden,  that  it  was  hard  for 
any  one  to  take  her  place.  In  Mrs.  Marks  she 
found  a  worthy  coworker,  though  Mrs.  Marks 
herself  was  of  fragile  health. 

Mrs.  j\Iarks  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  As- 
sociation whenever  Mrs.  Baxter  was  unable  to 
preside,  taking  the  chair  first  at  a  meeting  May 
13,  1896.  It  was  during  Mrs.  Mark's  admin- 
istration as  Acting  Regent  that  the  Tennessee 
Centennial  Exposition  was  held  in  Nashville, 
and  she  carried  to  a  successful  issue  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  Ladies'  Hermitajre  Association 

o 

at  the  exposition.  It  was  while  this  exposition 
v/as  going  on  and  during  the  administration 
of  Mrs.  ]\larks  that  the  first  purchase  of  the 


MRS.    MARY    C.    DORRIS. 


Mrs,  Mary  L,  Baxter.  83 

valuable  and  interesting  relics  owned  by  Colo- 
nel Jackson  was  made  and  the  return  of  the 
relics  to  their  old  home  in  the  Hermitage  was 
actually  begun. 

While  the  exposition  was  going  on  Colonel 
Jackson  wrote  to  the  Association,  offering  the 
old  historic  State  coach  used  while  Andrew 
Jackson  was  President  and  in  which  he  made 
several  trips  to  and  from  Washington  City 
during  his  administration,  the  journey  requir- 
ing thirty  days.  The  price  asked  was  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  the  Association  immediately 
became  the  purchaser  of  this  most  interesting 
and  quaint  old  carriage,  and  it  was  put  in  the 
transportation  building  at  the  exposition  as  one 
of  its  most  interesting  exhibits,  where  it  at- 
tracted a  great  deal  of  attention. 

The  next  acquisition  was  the  bedroom  fur- 
niture of  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  which  he  used 
during  his  life,  consisting  of  a  bed,  a  dresser, 
a  washstand,  a  couch  or  sofa,  a  table,  chairs, 
fender  and  andirons,  all  the  portraits,  and  a 
scrap  of  carpet.  The  price  asked  was  one  thou- 
sand dollars.  This  the  Association  gave,  and 
the  furniture  was  shipped  by  Colonel  Jackson 
from  Cincinnati.     From  this  time  on  the  relic 


84         Presentation  of  the  Hermitage. 

furniture  began  to  flow  back  to  its  old  home. 
The  hah  furniture  came  next;  and  from  time 
to  time,  as  the  Association  accumulated  the 
money,  some  coveted  article  was  secured,  and 
the  good  work  went  on. 

^Mrs.  Marks  continued  to  administer  the  af- 
fairs of  the  Association  from  1896,  relieved  at 
times  by  Mrs.  Baxter,  whenever  able,  and  oc- 
casionally by  Mrs.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  at  whose 
home  a  great  many  of  the  meetings  w^ere  held. 

On  April  5,  1898,  Mrs.  Albert  S.  Marks, 
having  failed  in  health,  requiring  tlie  attend- 
ance of  trained  nurses  and  physicians,  resigned 
the  acting  regency  and  from  the  Board. 

Now  and  then  Mrs.  Baxter  was  able  to  pre- 
side; but  the  burden  of  administration  fell  upon 
Mrs.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  assisted  sometimes 
by  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove,  who  had  been  elected 
Treasurer,  the  first  woman  to  hold  that  office. 
Mrs.  Baxter  was  Regent  for  ten  years,  but  for 
at  least  three  years  of  that  time  she  was  too  ill 
to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  Association.  In 
1897  the  by-laws  were  revised,  and  a  limit  of 
four  years,  or  two  terms  of  two  years  each, 
was  put  upon  the  office. 

On  May  9,  1902,  Mrs.  Mar\^  L.  Baxter  died 


Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter.  85 

after  years  of  illness.  The  regular  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Directors,  which  was  in  session 
when  her  death  was  announced,  adjourned  out 
of  respect  to  her  memory.  A  beautiful  floral 
tribute  was  sent,  and  the  Association  attended 
the  funeral  in  a  body.  Resolutions  of  respect 
to  her  memory  were  passed. 


CHAPTER    VII. 
The  Regents. 

In  1899,  at  the  regular  biennial  election  in 
May,  Mrs.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley  was  elected  Re- 
gent, another  happy  choice  in  the  selection  of 
a  leader. 

Mrs.  Lindsley  had  been  connected  with  the 
Association  from  its  very  first  organization 
and  always  had  its  every  interest  at  heart.  Her 
husband,  Dr.  Lindsley,  was  one  of  the  first 
trustees,  and  her  daughter.  Miss  Louise  Grundy 
Lindsley,  was  a  charter  member.  She  had  been 
a  lifelong  friend  of  the  Jackson  family;  and 
in  girlhood  she  had  often  been  a  welcome  guest 
at  the  Hermitage  house  parties  with  the  fair 
young  Rachel  Jackson,  the  granddaughter  of 
the  old  hero.  During  her  administration  many 
relics  were  added  to  the  collection,  and  the  old 
home  began  to  look  as  it  did  when  Jackson's 
tall  form  was  reflected  in  the  long  mirrors. 
The  relic  collection  had  grown  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  it  became  necessary  to  place  iron 
guards  at  the  doors  to  protect  the  furnishings. 
(86) 


The  Regents.  ^7 

Mrs.  Lindsley's  house  became  the  home  of  ilie 
Association;  and  all  the  meetings  were  held 
there,  her  spacious  parlors  affording-  ample  ac- 
commodations for  any  number  of  guests. 

During  Mrs.  Lindsley's  administration  the 
admission  fee  was  raised  from  ten  cents  to 
twenty-five  cents.  The,  sale  of  flowers  was  in- 
augurated, by  which  much  money  was  made. 
The  colors  of  green  and  white  were  selected 
for  the  Association,  and  a  badge  designed  by 
Miss  Louise  Lindsley  was  adopted.  The  badge 
is  a  wreath  of  hickory  leaves  of  green  enamel 
with  the  intitials  *'L.  H.  A."  in  white  enamel. 

Some  distinguished  visitors  were  entertained 
at  the  Hermitage  during  Mrs.  Lindsley's  ad- 
ministration—Admiral and  Mrs.  Dewey  and 
Admiral  and  Mrs.  Schley.  Admiral  Dewey 
and  his  wife  came  in  the  summer  time,  when 
the  garden  was  a  glorious  flower  bed.  A  bar- 
becue was  given  him,  and  the  tables  were  laid 
beneath  the  beautiful  spreading  maples  of  the 
rear  yard.  Hundreds  of  guests  were  present. 
Admiral  and  Mrs.  Schley  came  in  the  winter 
season,  in  the  very  coldest  weather. 

During  Mrs.   Lindsley's  administration  in- 
surance was  taken  out  on  the  house  and  fur- 


88         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

niture  and  has  since  been  carried  in  reasonable 
but  not  large  amounts.  If  destroyed,  articles 
in  the  house  could  never  be  replaced,  and  every 
precaution  is  being  taken  to  prevent  fire.  Just 
after  the  Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition 
eight  fire  extinguishers  were  purchased  and  put 
in  the  building. 

It  was  also  during  Mrs.  Lindsley's  regency 
that  an  appropriation  of  one  thousand  dollars 
was  made  by  the  State  for  needed  improve- 
ments and  repairs.  Previous  to  this  five  hun- 
dred dollars  had  been  appropriated  by  the  State 
for  the  same  purpose. 

On  June  4,  1903,  the  Board  of  Directors 
met  with  the  Regent,  Mrs.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley, 
and  much  important  business  was  transacted. 
It  was  the  last  time  those  present  ever  had  an 
opportunity  of  meeting  with  the  beloved  and 
honored  Regent.  By  the  next  meeting,  July 
3,  the  angel  of  death  was  hovering  near;  and 
two  days  later,  July  5,  1903,  she  passed  away, 
her  life  having  been  a  benediction  to  all  around 
her. 

The  Hermitage  and  its  works  in  the  twelve 
years  that  Mrs.  Lindsley  was  connected  with 
it  had  been  the  one  thing  in  life  that  interested 


The  Regents,  89 

her.  She  was  ever  gracious  and  tactful  and 
gentle  in  her  rulings,  and  the  Association  pros- 
pered in  every  way  under  her  administration. 

On  August  5,  1903,  the  vacancy  caused  by 
Mrs.  Lindsley's  death  was  filled  by  electing  her 
daughter,  Miss  Louise  Lindsley,  on  the  Board 
of  Directors,  and  Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook  was  elect- 
ed Regent. 

During  Mrs.  Shook's  regency  there  was 
much  done.  At  a  meeting  on  September  2, 
1903,  the  Treasurer,  Mrs.  Walter  Allen,  re- 
ported that  Mr.  A.  P.  Foster  had  turned  over 
to  her  $276.03  as  a  result  of  the  canvass  made 
by  Col.  Jere  Baxter,  son  of  Mrs.  Mary  L. 
Baxter,  through  the  Nashville  News,  to  apply 
on  the  purchase  of  the  relics.  The  effort  was 
made  to  raise  ten  thousand  dollars  with  which 
to  purchase  those  relics  still  owned  by  Mrs. 
Andrew  Jackson;  but  less  than  three  hundred 
dollars  w^as  raised,  though  the  utmost  efforts 
were  put  forth  by  the  News  Company  to  se- 
cure the  necessary  amount.  All  of  which  goes 
to  prove  that  it  was  only  by  continued  efforts 
that  the  relics  have  been  purchased,  and  not  by 
any  easy  or  whirlwind  methods. 

The   State   of   Tennessee,   through   private 


90         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

committees  of  citizens,  reproduced  the  Hermit- 
age as  the  State  building  at  the  World's  Uni- 
versal Exposition,  held  at  St.  Louis  in  1904. 
Andrew  Jackson's  bedroom  was  reproduced,  an 
exact  replica  of  his  room  at  the  Hermitage,  the 
Association  using  some  of  the  historic  furniture 
for  the  purpose,  which  added  much  to  the  in- 
terest of  the  exhibit.  Another  interesting  fea- 
ture of  the  World's  Fair  Hermitage  w^as  the 
presence  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson  Lawrence, 
granddaughter  of  General  Jackson,  as  the  host- 
ess of  the  Tennessee  building  on  the  exposition 
grounds. 

The  writer  was' appointed  by  Mrs.  Shook 
and  the  Board  to  represent  the  Association  at 
this  same  exposition  and  remained  in  St.  Louis 
for  seven  months,  or  during  the  entire  time 
it  was  being  held,  Mrs.  W.  J.  McMurray  serv- 
ing as  Secretary  during  the  regular  Secretary's 
absence.  The  writer  was  also  a  commissioner 
of  the  State  and  lived  in  the  W^orld's  Fair 
Hermitage,  which  was  the  State's  building. 

Maj.  E.  B.  Stahlman  and  Maj.  E.  C.  Lewis 
were  the  promoters  of  the  work  of  replicating 
the  Hermitage;  and  they  carried  out  the  fur- 
nishings in  ever\'  detail,  creating  a  most  beau- 


The  Regents.  91 

tiful  replica  of  the  historic  Hermitage,  which 
made  a  grand  appearance  with  the  other  histor- 
ic State  buildings  on  the  exposition  grounds. 
The  pictorial  wall  paper  of  "Telemachus'*  was 
reproduced  by  hand-painting  on  canvas,  the 
young  lady  artist  sitting  in  the  halls  of  the 
Hermitage  for  three  months  to  make  the  copy. 
After  the  exposition  closed  this  hand-painted 
copy  was  presented  to  the  Ladies*  Hermitage 
Association;  and  it  is  now  on  the  walls  of  the 
upper  hall,  all  the  papering  there  having  been 
lost  by  the  damp  and  the  depredations  of  relic 
hunters. 

The  Hermitage  building,  being  an  old  brick 
one  and  not  having  had  fire  in  any  of  the  cham- 
bers for  many  years,  was  dreadfully  affected 
by  the  dampness.  Whenever  there  was  a 
change  in  the  weather  it  caused  a  dense  fog  in 
the  rooms,  which  gathered  into  water  on  the 
walls  and  trickled  down  to  the  floor.  Mrs. 
Shook  caused  to  be  installed  an  up-to-date  hot- 
air  furnace,  which  corrected  all  the  dampness, 
has  made  the  building  warm  and  comfortable 
through  the  severest  weather,  and  is  one  of 
the  most  needed  and  best  improvements  ever 
made  there.     Mrs.  Shook  also  caused  a  tele- 


92         Presentation  of  the  Hermitage. 

phone  to  be  placed  there,  which  had  ahva}s 
been  a  necessity;  but  up  to  that  time  the  Asso-- 
ciation  had  never  felt  able  to  afford  such  an 
expense. 

On  May  17,  1905,  the  writer  of  this  history 
was  elected  Regent,  having  served  continuously 
as  Secretary  during  the  entire  life  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, sixteen  years.  One  of  the  first  works 
of  this  administration  was  to  build  a  two-room 
cottage  for  a  dining  room  and  kitchen  for  the 
caretaker,  which  gave  to  the  family  a  home 
privacy  and  allowed  the  old  historic  kitchen, 
always  interesting,  to  be  fitted  up  as  a  part  of 
of  the  exhibit. 

In  1907  President  Roosevelt,  then  the  chief 
executive  of  the  nation,  visited  the  Hermitage, 
and  it  was  the  privilege  of  the  writer  as  Regent 
to  receive  him.  The  venerable  Mrs.  Rachel 
Jackson  Lawrence,  granddaughter  of  General 
Jackson,  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  the  mem- 
bership generally,  assisted.  The  President  was 
so  pleased  with  his  visit  and  so  enthusiastic  with 
the  work  that  he  pledged  himself  to  secure 
from  Congress  an  appropriation  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Association.  The  President  urged  the 
matter  in  his  message  to  Congress;  and  Sena- 


The  Regents.  93 

tor  James  B.  Frazier  and  Congressman  John 
W.  Gaines  secured  an  appropriation  of  five 
thousand  dollars,  which  enabled  the  Regent  to 
carry  out  some  long-cherished  plans. 

A  system  of  waterworks  was  installed,  bring- 
ing water  from  the  spring  to  the  garden  and 
the  house.  The  spring  has  a  capacity  of  from 
fifty  thousand  to  sixty  thousand  gallons  daily. 
The  spring  itself  was  greatly  improved,  and  a 
stone  wall  was  put  around  the  pool  in  a  sub- 
stantial and  permanent  manner.  The  interior 
woodwork  was  painted  for  the  first  time  since 
the  State  became  its  owner,  in  1856.  The 
woodwork  was  in  very  bad  condition  and  need- 
ed numerous  coats  of  paint  to  whiten  it,  the 
mantelpieces  requiring  no  less  than  seven  coats 
of  paint  to  bring  them  to  the  desired  condition. 

The  wall  paper  in  the  upper  chambers  is  the 
same  that  was  put  on  when  Andrew  Jackson 
lived,  and  the  house  was  rebuilt  in  1835.  This 
paper  is  very  quaint  and  old-fashioned.  In 
a  guest  room  at  the  head  of  the  stairway 
the  pattern  is  in  huge  bunches  of  roses,  each 
design  being  in  a  block  of  paper  not  more 
than  three  feet  long  and  not  in  a  continuous 
roll,  as  is  done  at  present.    Owing  to  the  damp 


94         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

and  the  falling  off  of  the  plastering  in  this 
room,  when  the  plaster  was  renewed  some 
years  previously  there  was  a  large  section  in 
the  northwest  corner  that  showed  only  the 
white  finish  on  the  wall.  This  white  corner, 
extending  almost  halfway  on  each  side,  was 
deftly  and  beautifully  frescoed  in  by  an  artist, 
who  reproduced  the  huge  bunches  of  roses  so 
perfectly  that  even  the  closest  inspection  fails 
to  note  any  difference  between  the  frescoing 
and  the  old  wall  pajDer. 

Each  of  the  Regents  after  1897  has  added 
to  the  relic  collection;  and  some  very  valuable 
articles  were  purchased  during  the  administra- 
tion of  the  writer,  including  the  very  valuable 
and  historic  portrait  of  Jackson  known  as  the 
Healy  portrait.  There  are  only  two  of  Healy's 
paintings  of  Jackson  extant.  One  hangs  at  the 
Hermitage  and  the  other  in  the  Louvre,  at 
Paris.  There  are  many  duplicates,  for  it  is  a 
favorite  subject  of  copy ;  but  there  are  only  two 
original  Healy's. 

The  story  of  the  painting  at  the  Hermitage 
is  very  interesting.  The  artist,  Healy,  had 
been  commissioned  by  Louis  Philippe  to  paint 
the  portraits  of  prominent  Americans  for  the 


The  Regents.  95 

French  gallery.  Healy  was  at  the  home  of 
Henry  Clay,  in  Kentucky,  when  he  learned  that 
Andrew  Jackson  was  in  a  low  state  of  health 
and  liable  to  pass  away  any  day.  He  hastened 
to  the  Hermitage,  having  to  travel  by  private 
conveyance,  and  arrived  there  while  Mrs.  Sarah 
Yorke  Jackson,  the  General's  daughter-in-law, 
had  gone  to  the  city  for  the  day. 

The  old  hero  was  placidly  awaiting  his  final 
summons  in  his  bedchamber  when  the  artist 
arrived  at  the  door.  Dick,  the  house  man,  an- 
swered the  artist's  ring  and  told  him  that  Gen- 
eral Jackson  was  very  ill.  The  artist  presented 
his  card  and  sent  it  into  the  sick  chamber. 
Dick  returned  and  said  that  General  Jackson 
was  too  feeble  to  meet  him.  But  the  artist  did 
not  give  up  and  sent  the  man  back,  following 
him  into  General  Jackson's  bedchamber. 

The  old  General  was  seated  in  front  of  a 
small  wood  fire,  for  the  day  was  a  cool  one  in 
early  June.  The  artist  rushed  past  the  serving 
man  and  threw  himself  upon  his  knees  at  the 
feet  of  the  sick  man.  Startled  and  astonished, 
the  old  General,  retaining  his  poise,  said :  "Rise, 
sir;  rise!  Kneel  to  no  one  but  your  Maker!" 
Reassured,  the  artist  sprang  to  his  feet,  reached 


96         Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

in  his  pocket  for  his  papers,  and  presented  the 
commission  from  Louis  PhiHppe.  The  old 
General  read  them  and  slowly  and  feebly  said : 
"Young  man,  never  forget  your  credentials." 
This  was  just  eight  days  before  the  old  hero's 
death. 

The  artist  began  his  sittings  and  made  two 
portraits,  one  for  the  gallery  of  the  Louvre  and 
the  other  for  the  Hermitage.  He  was  domi- 
ciled as  a  member  of  the  family  during  the  sit- 
tings and  remained  there  for  some  time,  mak- 
ing a  third  portrait,  which  he  copied  from  a 
painting  there.  This  he  presented  to  Mrs. 
Marion  Adams,  the  widowed  sister  of  Mrs. 
Sarah  Yorke  Jackson,  who  was  a  member  of 
her  household.  This  latter  portrait  was  after- 
wards sold  in  New  York  City. 

The  price  paid  by  the  Association  for  the 
Healy  portrait  was  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  Other  valuable  and  interesting  relics 
were  purchased  during  the  administration  of 
the  writer.  The  home  of  the  Regent  became 
the  home  of  the  Association,  and  all  the  meet- 
ings were  held  there.  At  each  general  meeting 
light  refreshments  were  served  and  a  social 
hotu*    enjoyed.      The    membership    increased 


GEN.    ANDREW    JACKSON — THE    HEALY    PORTRAIT. 


The  Regents,  97 

largely  during  this  administration,  growing 
from  seventy-five  accredited  voters  in  1905  to 
two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  in  1909.  At  the 
close  of  the  regency,  which  expired  by  limita- 
tion after  four  years*  incumbency,  the  retiring 
Regent  again  took  the  office  of  Secretary, 
which  office  had  been  ably  filled  by  Mrs.  Walter 
Allen  during  the  writer's  administration  as 
Regent. 

In  1909  Miss  Louise  G.  Lindsley,  a  charter 
member  and  daughter  of  one  of  the  first  trus- 
tees and  the  second  Regent,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  J. 
B.  Lindsley,  was  elected  to  the  regency  and 
entered  upon  the  work  with  ability  and  enthu- 
siasm. Her  familiarity  with  the  work  qualified 
her  in  no  small  way  for  the  requirements  of  the 
position.  The  former  administration  had  left 
in  the  treasury  two  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars of  the  congressional  appropriation,  and 
she  had  this  fund  to  continue  to  apply  to  the 
work  of  improvement. 

The  writer  might  here  state  that  no  moneys 
ever  appropriated  by  the  State  or  given  by  Con- 
gress has  ever  been  applied  to  the  purchase  of 
relics.    All  the  moneys,  a  total  at  this  writing 
7 


98  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

of  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  has  been  raised  by 
the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association. 

At  this  writing  the  Hermitage  is  beautifully 
and  completely  furnished  with  the  genuine  rel- 
ics and  furniture,  the  actual  belongings  and 
mementos  of  General  Jackson.  All  these  rel- 
ics and  this  beautiful  furniture  have  been  pur- 
chased by  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association. 
The  Association  alone  is  the  sole  owner,  not 
even  the  State  of  Tennessee  having  the  slight- 
est claim  upon  them. 

From  the  first  founding  of  the  Association 
there  has  been  no  retrograde  movement.  The 
progress  has  been  slow  but  sure.  The  improve- 
ments are  of  the  most  substantial  and  perma- 
nent character.  The  Association  has  always 
been  conducted  upon  a  high  plane,  and  year  by 
year  it  has  grown  in  power  and  influence  and 
has  always  ranked  as  one  of  the  finest  organi- 
zations in  the  State.  By  clever  management 
the  Association  has  almost  made  one  dollar 
do  the  work  of  two,  and  with  the  assistance 
of  the  caretaker  himself  it  has  accomplished 
wonders  with  a  minimum  outlay. 

The  ladies  have  proved  good  financiers,  and 
thev  have  never  had  a  debt  which  was  not  well 


The  Regents.  99 

in  hand.  In  buying  relics  an  obligation  was 
usually  made,  but  the  obligation  was  amply 
provided  for  and  paid  when  it  fell  due.  From 
1899  to  1 90 1  Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook  served  as 
Treasurer.  From  1901  to  1904  Mrs.  Walter 
Allen  held  the  ofifice.  Then,  at  the  special  re- 
quest of  the  Board,  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove  again 
took  the  books  and  has  managed  the  finances 
to  the  present  writing,  her  ability  and  judg- 
ment and  her  correct  and  conscientious  han- 
dling of  the  funds  making  her  a  valuable  mem- 
ber of  the  Board. 

The  new  Regent,  Miss  Lindsley,  entered  ac- 
tively into  the  work  and  carried  on  the  improve- 
ments to  a  higher  degree.  The  cottage,  con- 
sisting of  just  two  rooms  and  a  pantry,  was 
moved  farther  to  the  north  and  the  rear.  Sev- 
eral rooms  were  added,  with  a  bathroom  and 
all  conveniences,  hot  and  cold  water,  and  an 
altogether  livable,  habitable  place  of  abode  was 
fitted  up  for  the  caretaker  and  his  family,  giv- 
ing them  the  privacy  of  their  own  home. 

At  the  same  time  this  arrangement  allowed 
the  entire  main  building  to  be  thrown  open  as 
an  exhibit.  The  two  rooms  (the  bedrooms  of 
Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke  Jackson)  formerlv  ncmpied 


loo       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

by  the  caretaker  were  fitted  up  with  some  of 
the  genuine  furniture.  The  former  nursery 
adjoining  was  fitted  up  as  a  museum,  none  of 
the  nurser}^  furniture  being  available. 

The  purchase  of  relics  continued.  Colonel 
Andrew  Jackson  died  in  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  in 
December,  1906;  but  his  widow,  Mrs.  Amy 
Jackson,  continues  to  sell  the  relics,  holding 
them  until  such  time  as  the  Association  is 
able  to  purchase.  Miss  Lindsley  inaugurated 
the  system  of  regular  monthly  payments  upon 
the  purchases,  which  not  only  made  it  easy  for 
the  Association  to  meet  the  obligations,  but 
gave  a  regular  income  to  Mrs.  Jackson. 

One  of  the  most  important  purchases  was 
that  of  Hiram  Powers's  bust  of  Jackson, 
which  was  not  only  a  historic  relic,  but  a 
work  of  art  as  well.  The  price  paid  for  it  was 
three  thousand  dollars,  the  highest-priced  and 
most  valuable  single  article  ever  purchased  by 
the  Association. 

Another  very  important  work  of  Miss  Linds- 
ley's  administration  was  that  of  the  "tree  doc- 
tor" on  the  splendid  old  monarchs  of  the  forest 
on  the  front  lawn.  Eight  hundred  dollars  was 
piit  into  this  work,  repultinjr  ven^  benefici^llv  to 


The  Regents,  loi 

the  grand  old  trees  which  were  threatened  with 
decay. 

Miss  Lindsley's  administration  brought  in 
more  money  than  any  previous  administration ; 
for  she  managed  successfully  several  very  large 
outings  and  barbecues  for  various  organiza- 
tions. One  of  the  most  brilliant  affairs  was 
the  entertainment  of  the  Secretary  of  War  in 
President  Taft's  Cabinet,  Hon.  Jacob  McGav- 
ock  Dickinson,  who  was  in  Nashville  during  a 
grand  military  encampment  in  July,  19  lo. 
Under  Secretary  Dickinson's  direction  all  the 
United  States  soldiers  of  the  encampment  were 
ordered  to  the  Hermitage,  and  a  President's 
salute  of  twenty-one  guns  was  fired  over  Jack- 
son's grave. 

Many  distinguished  bodies  and  many  distin- 
guished men  have  visited  the  Hermitage  during 
the  twenty-five  years  of  the  Association's  life; 
and  it  has  become  the  one  spot  that  all  visitors 
to  the  city  are  shown  by  their  hosts,  whether 
individually  or  as  guests  of  our  commercial 
organizations.  These  visits  always  result  in 
financial  benefit  to  the  Association,  for  an  ad- 
mission fee  of  twenty-five  cents  is  charged  at 
the  door.     The  automobile  has  greatly  helped 


102       Presewation  of  the  Hermitage, 

the  attendance  at  the  Hermitage.  Every  effort 
to  secure  a  trolley  line  has  failed,  and  yet  many 
thousands  of  visitors  go  there  annually. 

Another  feature  of  Miss  Lindsley's  adminis- 
tration was  the  increase  in  191 1  in  the  State's 
appropriation  from  six  hundred  dollars  to 
twelve  hundred  dollars  annually. 

Among  the  painful  experiences  of  the  La- 
dies* Hermitage  Association  are  the  dangers 
which  have  threatened  the  Hermitage.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  effort  in  the  beginning,  there 
would  to-day  be  no  Hermitage,  no  attractive 
historic  place  for  tourists  to  visit  and  admire. 
Were  it  not  for  the  vigilance  of  the  Associa- 
tion, other  things  would  have  come  in  and 
hemmed  the  memorial  in  on  all  sides  with  a 
boundary  of  only  twenty-five  acres. 

A  few  years  ago  it  was  suggested  that  the 
reform  prison  be  placed  on  the  Hermitage 
farm,  and  the  proposition  was  warmly  advo- 
cated in  certain  quarters;  but  the  Ladies*  Her- 
mitage Association,  ever  vigilant  and  jealous 
of  any  infringement  upon  their  rights  to  the 
beloved  Hermitage,  were  soon  up  in  arms  and 
defeated  the  project.  From  the  very  inception 
of  the  memorial  it  has  been  the  desire  of  the 


The  Regents.  103 

Association  to  possess  more  ground  and  to  de- 
vote, not  a  small  plot  of  twenty-five  acres,  but 
a  glorious  farm  of  three  hundred  or  even  the 
whole  five  hundred  acres  to  the  memory  of  the 
great  Andrew  Jackson.  It  had  always  been  the 
thought  of  the  ladies  that  when  the  Confeder- 
ate Soldiers'  Home  Association  ceased  to  use 
it  as  a  home  the  memorial  association  would 
be  given  possession  of  the  entire  tract,  and  to 
that  end  it  has  always  worked. 

In  191 3,  during  the  regency  of  Miss  Linds- 
ley,  the  most  formidable  of  all  rivals  appeared 
upon  the  scene.  The  Seaman  A.  Knapp  School 
of  Country  Life  entered  a  petition  before  the 
State  Legislature  for  the  entire  four  hundred 
and  seventy-five  acres  of  the  Hermitage  farm. 
The  idea  came  as  a  surprise  to  the  Association ; 
but  the  Regent,  Miss  Lindsley,  immediately 
took  alarm  and,  summoning  her  workers 
around  her,  v/ent  before  the  Legislature  and 
called  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
about  to  part  with  the  title  to  Andrew  Jack- 
son's home,  which  the  State  had  so  long  owned. 
The  Knapp  School  is  a  most  laudable  and 
worthy  enterprise;  but  the  Association  con- 
tended that  there  were  other  smiling  acres  in 


I04       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Tennessee  for  the  establishment  of  a  memorial, 
and,  as  the  Rev.  C.  D.  Elliott  said  twenty-five 
years  ago,  "The  State  can  never  in  honor  part 
with  the  title  to  the  Hermitage."  The  result 
was  that  the  Hermitage  remained  as  it  had 
been  for  the  past  twenty-five  years,  and  the 
State  gave  to  the  Seaman  A.  Knapp  Memorial 
School  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  in  lieu  of 
the  Hermitage  farm. 

The  time  limit  of  four  years  having  expired, 
Miss  Louise  Grundy  Lindsley  retired  from  the 
regency,  and  IMrs.  B.  F.  Wilson  was  elected. 
The  election  was  in  May,  1913,  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
son was  traveling  in  .the  Riviera.  She  was 
cabled  the  news  of  her  election,  and  she  ac- 
cepted. Miss  Lindsley,  who  became  First  Vice 
Regent,  acted  until  the  new  Regent  came  home. 
Upon  Mrs.  Wilson's  return  she  took  up  the 
reins  of  government  with  an  earnest  determi- 
nation that  argued  well  for  her  administration 
and  undertook  the  w^ork  with  enthusiasm  and 
ability.  She  is  a  social  leader  with  a  great  deal 
of  taste  and  tact  and  with  an  unlimited  gener- 
osity tow^ard  the  work  that  causes  her  to  help 
out  many  an  enterprise  that  would  otherwise 
fail.    She  has  effected  the  purchase  of  many  a 


The  Regents.  105 

relic  that  might  not  have  been  procured  but  for 
her  liberaHty. 

The  membership  now  boasts  four  hundred 
persons,  most  of  whom  are  in  Nashville;  but 
there  are  members  all  over  the  Union,  and  such 
sustaining  members  are  always  desired.  There 
are  a  good  many  life  members,  who  have  paid 
twenty-five  dollars  for  membership  and  who 
continue  to  take  an  interest  in  the  work. 

For  years  the  Association  had  looked  for- 
ward to  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
battle  of  New  Orleans  with  a  resolve  to  make 
it  a  memorable  and  brilliant  occasion  and  to 
celebrate  it  with  all  the  pomp  and  ceremony 
that  such  a  great  event  demanded. 

The  attention  of  the  Regent,  Mrs.  Wilson, 
was  early  given  to  the  work;  and  to  insure 
full  and  complete  cooperation,  such  as  was  de- 
sired, she  called  upon  the  Andrew  Jackson  Me- 
morial Association,  of  which  Maj.  E.  B.  Stahl- 
man  is  President,  to  join  in  and  assist  with  the 
celebration.  At  a  joint  meeting  held  with  the 
before-mentioned  organization  Mrs.  Wilson 
fired  tliem  with  her  enthusiasm  and  spirit  and 
kindled  within  them  the  desire  to  observe  the 
day  properly ;  and  to  that  end  work  was  begun, 


io6       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

and  all  planned  together  to  celebrate  the  one 
hundredth  anniversary  of  Andrew  Jackson's 
great  victory  and  the  one  hundred  years  of 
peace  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  which  began  with  the  close  of  the  battle 
of  New  Orleans. 

At  the  request  of  Mrs.  Wilson  the  day  had 
been  declared  a  holiday  both  by  the  Governor 
of  the  State  and  the  Mayor  of  Nashville.  Dur- 
ing the  time  of  the  passing  of  the  parade  the 
stores  were  closed,  and  the  streets  were 
thronged  with  spectators.  In  fact,  Nashville 
responded  enthusiastically,  with  patriotic  unity, 
in  her  observance  of  the  anniversary ;  and  thou- 
sands of  her  citizens  left  their  homes  and  their 
places  of  business  to  take  part  in  the  elaborate 
program  which  had  been  arranged  to  honor  the 
memory  of  Andrew  Jackson,  Tennessee's  great 
soldier  and  statesman.  The  members  of  the 
General  Assembly,  which  was  just  convening, 
took  a  recess  and  left  the  legislative  halls  to 
join  with  the  citizens  of  Nashville  in  doing 
honor  to  "Old  Hickory." 

The  events  of  the  day  were  begun  with  a 
mammoth  procession,  in  which  the  various  de- 
partments   of   the   city   government,    military 


The  Regents,  107 

organizations,  business  associations,  and  other 
bodies  joined  in  making  a  demonstration  un- 
surpassed in  the  history  of  the  city. 

Mrs.  Wilson  was  particularly  happy  in  the 
selection  of  a  grand  marshal;  and  when  she 
invited  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Wrenne  to  plan  for 
the  day  and  arrange  the  demonstration,  she 
made  success  doubly  assured.  Mr.  Wrenne 
immediately  began  to  marshal  his  forces  and 
had  in  line  a  detail  of  police,  the  uniformed 
Confederate  companies,  under  Gen.  John  P. 
Hickman,  and  two  companies  of  the  National 
Guard,  under  Maj.  J.  H.  Samuel,  each  with 
its  staff  of  officers,  and  every  available  body 
to  make  more  imposing  the  parade.  Reduced 
railroad  rates  brought  a  large  contingent  from 
the  neighboring  tov/ns,  including  some  of  their 
military  bands,  of  which  there  were  six  in  line. 

The  entire  procession  passed  in  review  be- 
fore Chief  Marshal  Thomas  W.  Wrenne  and 
staff.  Gov.  B.  W.  Hooper  and  officials,  and 
prominent  citizens.  On  Capitol  Boulevard, 
fronting  our  beautiful  State  Capitol,  a  sham 
battle,  replicating  the  battle  of  New  Orleans, 
was  had,  cotton  bales  being  used  as  they  were 
one  hundred  years  ago. 


io8       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

The  sham  battle  over,  speeches  were  in  or- 
der, and  fine  addresses  were  made  by  Gov.  B. 
W.  Hooper,  Judge  S.  F.  Wilson,  and  Maj. 
E.  B.  Stahlman.  Members  of  the  Ladies* 
Hermitage  Association  were  seated  on  the 
speakers'  stand ;  and  !Mrs.  Wilson  made  a  beau- 
tiful address  preceding  the  flight  of  white 
doves,  the  messengers  of  peace  between  the 
two  countries,  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain.  Three  little  girls,  granddaughters  of 
the  principal  participants,  released  the  white 
doves,  which  sped  over  the  city. 

The  ceremonies  on  Capitol  Boulevard  over, 
the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  adjourned 
immediately  to  the  bronze  statue  of  Andrew 
Jackson  on  the  Capitol  grounds,  followed  by  a 
large  crowd,  in  which  were  the  State  legislators, 
for  the  crowning  of  "Old  Hickory."  The 
statue  had  been  beautifully  decorated  for  the 
occasion  with  flags  and  bunting.  Upon  the 
head  had  been  placed  a  laurel  wreath ;  and  with 
appropriate  sentiment  Mrs.  Wilson  placed  on 
the  statue  an  immense  wreath  made  from  the 
evergreens  around  the  tomb  at  the  Hermitage, 
tied  with  the  national  colors.  On  one  of  the 
ribbons  were  the  words,  'The  hero  of  New 


The  Regents.  109 

Orleans/'  The  head  of  each  patriotic  society 
present  placed  a  bunch  of  evergreens  on  the 
base  of  the  statue,  forming  a  garland  entirely 
around  it,  each  expressing  some  sentiment  as 
the  token  was  placed.  The  company  generally 
and  the  school  children  present  all  paid  this 
same  tribute  and  placed  a  bunch  of  evergreens 
on  the  statute,  thus  completing  the  beautiful 
decorations. 

In  the  afternoon  at  three  o'clock  the  Andrew 
Jackson  Memorial  Association,  in  the  presence 
of  a  large  audience,  planted  a  hickory  tree  at 
Centennial  Park.  Superintendent  Keyes,  of  the 
Nashville  public  schools,  brought  his  high 
school  trained  chorus,  and  there  were  patriotic 
songs  and  speeches. 

At  6  P.M.  the  Andrew  Jackson  Memorial 
Association  had  a  grand  banquet  at  the  Max- 
well House,  where  there  was  more  brilliant 
oratory,  and  mingled  with  the  grand  tributes 
paid  to  the  old  hero  himself  were  warm  words 
of  commendation  of  the  great  work  the  Ladies' 
Hermitage  Association  was  doing  in  preserv- 
ing his  home  and  keeping  his  memory  green. 

The  day  closed  with  the  usual  brilliant  ball 
at  the  Hermitasre  Hotel,  in  which  the  vouth 


no       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

and  the  beauty  of  the  city  participated.  The 
ballroom  was  decorated  with  Jackson  vine 
and  beautifully  made  cotton  bolls  and  many 
United  States  flags.  The  portrait  of  the  old 
hero  looked  down  in  approval  upon  the  scene, 
surrounded  with  flags  used  in  the  centennial 
celebration  of  the  battle  of  the  Horseshoe, 
which  forever  broke  the  power  of  the  red  man 
in  America.  The  loggia,  where  refreshments 
were  served,  was  elaborately  decorated  with  the 
colors  of  the  Association,  Jackson  vine,  and 
white  snowballs.  The  important  battles  were 
noted  in  the  different  stations,  Talladega, 
Emuckfau,  Horseshoe,*  Mobile,  leading  up  to 
New  Orleans.  A  pretty  feature  of  the  ball 
was  the  eighteen  States  of  the  Union  at  the 
time  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  was  fought, 
represented  by  eighteen  young  ladies  suitably 
attired  with  sashes  in  the  national  colors,  who 
danced  a  special  dance,  with  flags  for  the  oc- 
casion. 

On  Saturday,  January  9,  the  United  States 
Daughters  of  18 12  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the 
Hermitage  and  held  beautiful  exercises  there. 
The  State  President,  Mrs.  William  G.  Spen- 
cer, spoke  of  the  great  good  fortune  of  the 


The  Regents.  1 1 1 

Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  in  having  the 
home  of  Jackson,  the  tomb,  and  his  venerable 
granddaughter,  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson  Law- 
rence, to  inspire  them,  which  the  Tennessee 
organization  of  the  United  States  Daughters 
of  1812  could  also  enjoy  with  them. 

The  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association,  in  ap- 
preciation of  the  grand  three  days'  celebration 
held  at  New  Orleans,  sent  two  handsome 
wreaths  made  of  evergreens  growing  about 
Jackson's  tomb,  tied  with  ribbons  in  the  na- 
tional colors  and  bearing  the  words,  "181 5 — 
Greetings,  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association— 
191 5."  One  of  the  wreaths  was  placed  by  the 
United  States  Daughters  of  1 812  on  the  mon- 
ument erected  on  the  field  of  Chalmette,  the 
other  on  the  equestrian  statue  of  General 
Jackson,  in  Jackson  Square  at  New  Orleans, 
by  the  Louisiana  Historical  Society. 

The  general  observance  of  the  day  by  the 
Andrew  Jackson  Clubs,  Tennessee  societies, 
and  other  patriotic  organizations  all  over  the 
United  States,  the  grand  three  days'  celebra- 
tion at  New  Orleans,  made  most  im.posing  and 
impressive,  and,  above  all,  the  very  elaborate 
and    distinctive    pageant    and    ceremonies    in 


112        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

Nashville  were  very  gratifying  to  the  Ladies' 
Hermitage  Association,  which  had  worked  so 
long  and  so  faithfully  to  that  end. 

And  now  to  continue  this  great  work  there 
is  the  present  Board  of  Directors,  consisting 
of  the  following:  Mrs.  B.  F.  Wilson,  Regent; 
Miss  Louise  G.  Lindsley,  First  Vice  Regent; 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook,  Second  Vice  Regent ;  Mrs. 
Mary  C.  Dorris,  Secretary;  Mrs.  P.  H.  Man- 
love  Treasurer;  Mrs.  Bettie  M.  Donelson,  Mrs. 
Maggie  L.  Hicks,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Henr\',  Miss 
Carrie  Sims.  Two  meetings  each  month  are 
held — the  directors'  meeting,  when  all  the  busi- 
ness is  transacted,  and  the  general  meeting, 
which  is  largely  social. 

The  present  Board  of  Trustees  are:  Gen. 
J.  W.  Lewis,  Paris,  Tenn.,  President;  Mr. 
Percy  Warner,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Secretary; 
Col.  A.  M.  Shook,  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  Hon. 
John  W.  Gaines,  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  Gen.  John 
A.  Fite,  Lebanon,  Tenn. ;  Ex-Senator  James  B. 
Frazier,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. :  Hon.  Samuel  G. 
Heiskell,  Knoxville,  Tenn. ;  Mr.  Lewis  R. 
Donelson,  Memphis,  Tenn.;  Mr.  John  M. 
Gray,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

It  will  alwavs  seem  a  most  wonderful  and 


The  Regents,  113 

marvelous  thing  that  the  Legislature  of  a  great 
State  should  have  seen  so  much  of  promise,  a 
long  time  ago,  in  the  efforts  of  a  few  patriotic 
women  organized,  it  is  true,  but  at  best  a  very 
small  band  to  put  into  their  hands  so  great  a 
trust.  It  was  well  that  the  act  was  hedged 
about  with  provisos  and  regulations  in  case 
the  Ladies'  Hemiitage  Association  "failed"  or 
"refused"  to  carry  out  the  trust.  It  would 
seem  that  the  Providence  that  overrules  all 
things  had  exercised  a  special  care  over  the 
Hermitage.  Circumstances  strange  and  in- 
scrutable had  preserved  it  through  a  long 
stretch  of  years  until  the  memorial  association 
idea  had  time  to  be  conceived  and  to  grow  and 
become  a  possibility.  Another  decade  such  as 
had  passed,  and  rescue  would  have  been  almost 
impossible,  for  the  relics  would  have  been 
scattered  and  the  old  Hermitage  destroyed,  ut- 
terly obliterated.  It  seemed  as  if  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  years  had  worked  together  for 
good  to  the  home  of  Andrew  Jackson,  preserv- 
ing it  so  that  it  might  ever  be  a  monument  to 
him  and  an  object  lesson  to  the  rising  genera- 
tions. 

Was  all  this  work  accomplished  in  a  day 
8 


114        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

or  in  a  year  ?  Not  so.  Untiring  has  been  the 
zeal,  devoted  the  fidelity  that  has  clung  to  the 
one  idea.  Andrew  Jackson  himself  could  not 
have  shown  more  tenacity  of  purpose  nor  more- 
heroic  fortitude  than  these  women  banded  to- 
gether under  the  name  of  the  Ladies'  Hermit- 
age Association.  Perhaps  it  is  its  continuity 
that  explains  the  secret  of  its  success. 

The  organization  now  has  four  hundred 
local  members  and  others  over  the  Union  and 
occupies  a  dignified  and  exalted  position  among 
the  women's  organizations  of  the  State.  It 
has  done  the  State  a  great  serv^ice  in  preserv- 
ing this  interesting  memorial,  which  is  appre- 
ciated more  and  more  by  our  State  govern- 
ment, by  its  legislative  body,  and  by  our  com- 
mercial organizations  as  the  years  go  by. 

Regularly  a  biennial  meeting  of  the  trustees 
is  held  and  a  report  made  to  the  Legislature, 
and  never  once  has  either  the  Governor  or  the 
General  Assembly  .  said  to  the  Association, 
*Thou  shalt"  or  "Thou  shalt  not"  do  this  or 
that,  but  has  looked  on  apparently  with  sat- 
isfaction and  seen  the  work  progress  and  the 
place  grow  in  beauty. 

Day  by  day  and  step  by  step  the  work  of 


The  Regents,  115 

repairing  and  improving  has  gone  on,  here  a 
little,  there  a  little,  and  all  the  time  the  valu- 
able relics  were  drifting  back  to  their  old  home, 
adding  a  renewed  interest  as  each  piece  was 
returned  to  its  accustomed  spot  in  the  building. 
The  slender  means  of  the  Association  were 
made  to  accomplish  a  great  deal,  and,  woman- 
like, the  managing  board  has  held  fast  to  its 
dollar  until  it  was  quite  sure  that  it  had  se- 
cured a  full  dollar's  worth  of  material  or  serv- 
ice. Many  of  the  experiences  were  truly  grat- 
ifying, some  were  ludicrous,  some  very  disap- 
pointing, and  some  even  disastrous;  but  all 
were  interesting.  But  there  was  always  a  for- 
ward movement,  and  the  Association  has  made 
its  way  to  the  heart  and  interest  of  the  people. 

And  now,  after  the  grand  celebration  of  the 
one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  battle  of 
New  Orleans  and  of  peace  between  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking people,  the  Ladies'  Hermitage 
Association  is  better  prepared  than  ever  to 
continue  its  work  and  keep  in  perpetual  remem- 
brance the  hom.e  of  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Uncle  Alfred  and  Gracey. 

When  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
was  given  possession  of  the  Hermitage,  it  was 
also  given  a  ward  in  the  person  of  Uncle 
Alfred,  the  old  colored  man  who  for  so  long 
told  the  story  to  visitors.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  unique  and  interesting  characters  in  all 
Tennessee. 

Born  a  slave  on  the  Hermitage  farm,  in  the 
smaller  of  the  two'  cabins  forming  the  kitchen 
of  General  Jackson's  frontier  house,  Uncle  Al- 
fred had  never  lived  anywhere  but  at  the  Her- 
mitage. His  life  was  bounded  by  its  horizon. 
He  was  born  there,  lived  there,  died  there,  and 
was  buried  there  by  the  Association.  He  was 
with  the  family  of  the  Hermitage  through  all 
their  joy  and  prosperity  and  remained  with 
them  through  all  their  sorrows  and  vicissi- 
tudes. He  witnessed  the  changes  through 
nearly  a  century  of  time,  for  he  was  ninety- 
eight  years  old  when  he  died. 

The  death  of  Uncle  Alfred  was  the  break- 
(ii6) 


Uncle  Alfred  and  Gracey,  117 

ing  of  another  link  that  bound  the  present  day 
with  the  old  slave  times  of  long  ago.  The 
class  to  which  Uncle  Alfred  belonged  is  fast 
passing,  and  soon  a  genuine  specimen  of  the 
old  plantation  slave  of  long  ago  will  have  en- 
tirely disappeared.  Uncle  Alfred  was  a  thor- 
ough type  of  the  plantation  negro.  He  pos- 
sessed all  of  his  characteristics,  cherished  all  of 
his  superstitions,  and,  despite  constant  associa- 
tion with  educated  white  people,  spoke  his  lan- 
guage and  used  his  dialect. 

In  his  way  Uncle  Alfred  was  a  haughty  aris- 
tocrat. He  had  always  been  a  faithful  and 
trusted  servant  in  a  wealthy  and  prominent 
family,  which,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  "old 
marster''  was  President  of  the  United  States, 
warranted  him  in  thinking  "a  powerful  sight 
o'  hisself,*'  as  he  expressed  it.  There  were 
grades  and  classes  among  slaves  in  those 
days  as  well  as  among  their  owners.  The 
slave  of  a  rich  and  powerful  citizen  felt  that 
part  of  the  family  distinction  fell  upon  him 
and  that  he  was  really  better  than  the  slaves  on 
the  adjoining  plantation  whose  owner  had  not 
near  so  many  acres,  raised  smaller  and  more 
insignificant  crops,  and  owned  fewer  negroes. 


1 18       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

On  the  plantation  itself  there  were  grades  in 
station.  The  housemaids,  nurses,  seamstresses, 
coachmen,  and  house  men  felt  themselves  su- 
perior to  their  fellows  and  the  ordinary  ''corn- 
field nigger,"  whom  they  spoke  of  contemp- 
tuously. 

Indeed,  they  did  have  an  advantage ;  for  con- 
stant association  and  close  contact  with  master 
and  man,  mistress  and  maid  produced  a  meas- 
ure of  culture  from  which  the  better  class  of 
the  negro  race  come  to-day.  The  old  planta- 
tion families  in  those  days  were  surrounded 
with  maids  and  servants  who  anticipated  their 
slightest  wish,  did  their  bidding,  and  deftly 
and  neatly  waited  upon  and  served  them. 

Uncle  Alfred  was  very  chivalrous  and  cour- 
teous in  his  own  individual,  characteristic  way, 
which  served  him  well  when  he  became  the 
guide  at  the  Hennitage  after  it  was  made  a 
public  place.  He  had  an  unerring  instinct  in 
meeting  genuine  ladies  and  gentlemen,  or  those 
whom  he  quaintly  designated  as  "de  fust  class," 
and  every  attention  was  paid  them.  But  he 
was  apt  to  be  impertinent  sometimes  to  those 
whom  he  discovered  to  be  "de  second  class." 
His  judgment  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in 


Uncle  Alfred  and  Gracey.  1 19 

contact    was    entirely    with    themselves    and 
founded  upon  the  conduct  of  the  individual 
while  he  was  guiding  him  over  the  Hermitage. 
To  him  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  was  the  em- 
bodiment   and    concentration    of    all    human 
grandness  and  nobility  of  character.    No  man 
who  had  ever  lived  approached  him  in  attain- 
ments.    No  general  had  ever  achieved  such 
victories.     No  President  had  ever  equaled  his 
hero.    He  had  facts  to  support  his  beliefs,  and 
his  memory  was  stored  with  incidents  of  Jack- 
son's career.     His  loyaUy  to  General  Jackson, 
his  exaltation  of  his  fame,  and  his  devotion  to 
his  memory  approached  the  sublime  and  made 
of  Uncle  Alfred  a  great  man  in  his  own  way 
and  an  invaluable  as  well  as  interesting  guide  at 
the  Hermitage.    Any  want  of  appreciation  of 
Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  his  ideal  and  hero,  any 
slur  on  his  memory,  or  any  lack  of  respect  to 
the  place,  was  sure  to  bring  forth  a  tart  remark 
about  ''de  fust  class"  and  "de  second  class." 
In  fact,  he  held  visitors  on  their  honor  not  to 
deface,  mutilate,  or  destroy  anything  on  the 
place  or  surreptitiously  appropriate  a  souvenir 
by  saying  with  all  due  reverence  and  respect : 
"Now,  when  de  fust  class  comes  here  I  doesn't 


I20       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

have  any  trouble,  but  when  de  second  class 
gits  in  I  has  to  watch  'em."  Then  he  would 
say:  "De  ladies  had  to  put  dese  guards  [pro- 
nounced by  him  gyuards]  here  to  keep  out  de 
second-hand  folks." 

Uncle  Alfred  was  very  intelligent.  He  was 
a  full-blooded  negro  and,  had  he  chosen,  could 
have  been  a  leader  among  his  people.  But  he 
never  seemed  to  care  for  latter-day  politics  nor 
to  take  any  very  active  interest  in  the  rise  or 
fall  of  the  political  parties.  Possibly  he  would 
have  been  a  Democrat  because  General  Jack- 
son was,  but  he  was  probably  a  Republican 
from  policy. 

He  had  a  marvelously  retentive  memory  and 
could  tell  by  the  hour  stories  of  the  history  of 
the  Hermitage,  of  the  early  Indian  wars,  and 
of  the  crowning  victory  at  New  Orleans.  He 
remembered  the  names  of  the  generals  and 
officers  with  whom  Jackson  was  associated, 
knew  the  names  of  statesmen  and  politicians, 
was  particularly  apt  with  dates,  and  he  had 
woven  it  all  into  an  eloquent  story,  which  he 
repeated  again  and  again  to  visitors  until  he 
became  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  of 
a  visit  to  the  Hermitage.    When  it  was  known 


UNCLE    ALFRED. 


Uncle  Alfred  and  Gracey.  121 

that  a  party  was  going  there  or  a  visitor  was 
to  come  from  a  distant  city,  the  injunction 
always  was :  **Be  sure  to  see  Uncle  Alfred.'* 

He  had  an  excellent  judgment  and  a  com- 
prehensive grasp  of  ideas  really  wonderful. 
He  was  a  natural  orator,  rising  to  a  climax 
in  his  story  and  winning  applause  from  his 
listeners.  After  a  particularly  good  story, 
hands  would  go  down  into  pocketbooks,  and 
the  coin  would  jingle  in  his  palm.  If  visitors 
forgot  or  neglected  this  important  part,  he 
would  say  pleadingly,  "Yer  ain't  a-gwine  ter 
fergit  de  old  man,  is  yer?"  which  produced 
the  desired  effect.  He  was  apt  in  rejoinder 
and  frequently  paid  a  delicate  compliment,  sur- 
prising even  to  those  who  knew  him  best. 

Uncle  Alfred  came  from  a  very  long-lived 
family  and  nearly  attained  his  century  mark. 
So  did  his  mother  and  his  grandmother.  The 
latter  lived  so  long  and  was  so  shriveled  and 
mummy-like  that  all  the  children  on  the  place, 
black  and  white,  and  not  a  few  of  the  elders, 
believed  that  she  was  a  w^tch.  The  grand- 
mother had  cooked  for  General  Jackson,  but 
had  resigned  the  work  to  the  hands  of  her 
daughter.  Betty,  Alfred's  mother,  even  before 


122       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

they  moved  to  the  Hermitage  farm,  prior  to 
1804. 

Bettie  was  a  skillful  cook,  a  thorough  adept 
in  the  requirements  of  a  frontiersman's  kitchen. 
She  desired  nothing  better  than  the  great 
yawning,  cavernous  fireplace,  with  its  spits 
and  cranes,  its  pots  and  skillets,  and  its  roar- 
ing log  fire,  to  prepare  a  most  delicious  meal. 

The  spring,  nature's  cool,  abundant  foun- 
tain from  which  the  family  drew  its  water 
supply,  was  not  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
av/ay;  and  this,  with  other  duties,  required  the 
services  of  several  little  dusky  satellites,  who 
churned,  "toted"  water,  or  kept  a  brisk  fire 
with  fresh  wood  from  the  woodpile. 

These  same  little  satellites,  with  but  one 
coarse  long  garment  to  cover  them,  were  pic- 
turesque figures  of  the  farm  life  in  those  days. 
The  bare  brown  feet  v/ere  nimble  and  quick, 
and  never  a  drop  was  spilled  of  the  clear  crys- 
tal water  in  the  cedar  pail  balanced  deftly  upon 
the  woolly  heads  as  they  ran  nimbly  with  it 
from  the  spring.  One  of  these  same  dusky 
pickaninnies  was  employed  to  wield  the  fanci- 
ful fly  brush,  made  of  peacock  feathers,  while 
the  family  were  at  meals. 


Uncle  Alfred  and  Gracey,  123 

Betty  cooked  at  the  Hermitage  until  her 
death,  in  1852,  having  been  for  more  than 
fifty  years  the  cook  in  General  Jackson's  fam- 
ily. 

Those  old  plantation  days  were  not  so  bad. 
Oftentimes  there  was  genuine  affection  and 
esteem  between  owner  and  slave,  and  this 
was  the  case  with  Uncle  Alfred.  He  was 
very  expert  with  horses  and  was  sometimes  a 
teamster  on  the  farm.  He  frequently  rode 
General  Jackson's  horses  in  the  races  and  was 
a  good  carriage  driver.  He  had  a  favorite 
team  which  he  called  Dicey  and  Sugar  Stick, 
and  when  hauling,  his  stentorian  tones  could 
be  heard  afar  off,  before  he  neared  the  house. 
He  was  faithful  in  the  performance  of  every 
duty,  and  the  utmost  confidence  was  placed  in 
him  by  the  family.  When  he  was  driving  the 
carriage,  the  ladies  always  felt  safe. 

Uncle  Alfred  was  constantly  in  attendance 
upon  General  Jackson  or  his  son.  The  latter 
sometimes  took  pleasure  trips  with  Alfred  as 
his  valet,  who  always  managed  to  get  the  very 
best  there  was  for  his  young  master.  Once 
they  were  traveling  on  a  steamboat,  and  the 
accommodations  were  very  poor.    All  the  pas- 


124        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

sengers  washed  their  faces  in  the  same  basin 
on  the  deck.  One  morning  young  Andrew 
heard  loud  voices  and  a  contention  in  which 
he  recognized  Alfred's  tones.  Quickly  dress- 
ing, the  young  man  went  out  and  found  Alfred 
with  the  basin  under  one  arm  and  the  towels 
under  the  other,  vowing  that  no  one  should  use 
them  until  his  young  master  had  bathed. 

While  living  in  Washington  during  Presi- 
dent Jackson's  administration  Mrs.  Sarah 
Jackson  met  a  Colonel  Hebb,  an  excellent  and 
once  wealthy  gentleman  of  Virginia  and  own- 
er of  many  slaves.  He  became  financially  in- 
volved and  felt  compelled  to  sell  his  negroes. 
He  was  a  kind  and  considerate  master,  and  he 
was  much  concerned  and  troubled  at  the  neces- 
sity that  forced  him  to  part  with  them.  Hop- 
ing to  avoid  separating  families,  he  gave  them 
permission  to  select  homes  and  purchasers  for 
themselves. 

From  one  of  the  families  a  grown  woman 
named  Gracey  was  sent  for  by  a  sister,  a  f reed- 
woman  living  in  Washington  City.  The  latter 
had  been  employed  as  pastry  cook  at  the  White 
House  and  knew  Mrs.  Sarah  Jackson.  This 
sister  sent  Gracey  to  Mrs.  Jackson,  who  was 


Uncle  Alfred  and  Gracey,  125 

so  favorably  impressed  with  her  and  interested 
in  the  situation  that  she  took  her  in  to  see  the 
President  and  laid  the  matter  before  him. 
Without  a  moment's  hesitation  he  purchased 
the  whole  family,  consisting  of  the  old  mother, 
three  daughters,  and  one  son. 

The  mother,  one  daughter,  and  the  son  were 
sent  on  to  the  Hermitage;  but  Gracey  and  her 
sister  Louisa  remained  at  the  White  House  as 
nurses  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Jackson's  two  children, 
Rachel  and  Andrew.  General  Jackson  gave 
Gracey  to  his  daughter  as  her  own  maid,  and 
a  warm  friendship  sprung  up  between  them 
which  lasted  until  death,  both  living  to  an 
advanced  age  at  the  Hermitage. 

When  the  family  returned  to  the  Hermitage, 
Alfred  for  the  first  time  met  Gracey.  He  soon 
desired  to  marry  her  and  did  so  in  the  fall  of 
1837.  Mrs,  Sarah  Jackson  took  the  greatest 
interest  in  the  affair.  She  had  the  couple 
stand  in  the  large  hall  while  they  were  mar- 
ried and  gave  them  a  fine  wedding  supper. 
These  two  favorite  servants  were  given  a  cabin 
very  near  the  house.  They  reared  a  family 
and  lived  an  exemplary  married  life  for  over 
fifty  years. 


126       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Since  Uncle  Alfred's  death  a  curious  rem- 
iniscence of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
was  found  among  his  papers.  After  Lincoln's 
proclamation  all  of  the  newly  freed  slaves  were 
told  to  legalize  their  marriages  made  as  slaves, 
remarrying  by  license  according  to  the  law  of 
the  State  where  it  was  to  be  solemnized.  Un- 
cle Alfred  and  Gracey,  who  had  lived  together, 
faithful  and  true,  for  twenty-nine  years,  feel- 
ing the  new  command  or  injunction  to  be  ob- 
ligator}%  were  remarried  April  29,  1866. 

Gracey  did  not  disappoint  the  expectation  of 
her  mistress,  for  she  relieved  her  of  most  of 
the  household  cares,  supervised  the  other  serv- 
ants, nursed  the  children,  and  was  an  expert 
seamstress.  She  was  invaluable  in  illness,  and 
nothing  could  soothe  the  mistress  as  did  the 
ministrations  of  Gracey.  Her  needlework  was 
unexcelled.  In  those  days,  when  every  stitch 
had  to  be  put  in  by  hand,  a  good  seamstress 
was  a  very  necessary  adjunct  and  a  valuable 
acquisition  to  every  family.  One  of  the  beau- 
tifully made  ruffled  shirts  of  General  Jackson, 
made  by  Gracey 's  deft  fingers,  is  now  preserved 
at  the  Hermitage.  The  ruffles  are  of  thread 
cambric  and  the  shirt  of  linen.     Gracey  made 


Uncle  Alfred  and  Gracey,  127 

them  in  sets  of  one  dozen  at  a  time,  and  the  one 
now  owned  is  one  of  a  dozen  made  while  Jack- 
son was  yet  an  active  man. 

This  excellent  servant  won  not  only  the 
esteem  but  the  affection  of  the  family,  and 
even  now  she  is  spoken  of  gratefully.  She 
had  no  superiors,  few  equals,  and  her  life  was 
a  chapter  in  the  old  slave  days  full  of  beauty 
and  interest. 

Gracey  joined  the  Hermitage  Church^  and 
lived  a  consistent  communing  member  until  her 
death.  Her  children  were  taken  there  when  in- 
fants and  baptized.  Alfred  joined  this  Church 
after  Gracey's  death,  but  later  moved  his  mem- 
bership to  a  Church  of  his  own  people  in  the 
neighborhood. 

Alfred  and  Gracey  were  the  witnesses  and 
participants  in  all  that  happened  to  the  family 
at  the  Hermitage,  in  their  greatest  joy,  their 
heaviest  sorrow.  After  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War,  when  the  effects  of  it  began  to  be 
felt  more  and  more  at  the  Hermitage,  the 
qualities  of   Alfred   and   Gracey   showed   the 

greatest. 

After   the    Emancipation    Proclamation    all 
the  former  slaves  took  advantage  of  their  new- 


128       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

found  freedom  and  left  for  other  homes. 
Some  came  to  the  city,  and  others  took  posses- 
sion of  little  cabins  and  set  up  housekeeping 
for  themselves  in  the  country.  But  Alfred 
and  Gracey  elected  to  remain  in  their  log  cab- 
in on  the  old  farm.  In  a  measure  they  re- 
versed the  old  order  of  things,  particularly 
after  the  death  of  the  adopted  son,  and  became 
the  protectors  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Jackson  and  her 
sister,  Mrs.  Adams,  all  that  were  left  of  the 
once  sunny  household.  It  was  Gracey  who 
prepared  the  now  frugal  meals,  and  it  was  Al- 
fred who  did  the  man's  work  of  the  household. 
The  business  of  farming  no  longer  went  on, 
and  the  Hermitage  household  was  conducted 
upon  very  simple  and  economical  plans  indeed. 
When  the  war  was  over  and  a  new  order  of 
things  was  instituted,  Alfred  and  Gracey  still 
lived  at  the  old  home,  from  which  at  last  death 
removed  them,  Gracey  preceding  her  mistress 
to  the  grave  but  a  few  months. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Uncle  Alfred's  Story. 

After  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
was  organized,  Uncle  Alfred,  by  a  sort  of  nat- 
ural arrangement,  drifted  into  the  position  of 
guide  to  show  visitors  over  the  place.  All  the 
fireside  stories  of  General  Jackson's  exploits, 
the  history  of  the  Indian  wars,  the  battle  of 
New  Orleans,  and  the  incidents  of  family  life, 
were  now  Uncle  Alfred's  stock  in  trade.  He 
delighted  visitors  with  his  quaint  way  of  tell- 
ing the  story  and  won  the  plaudits  of  his 
hearers. 

The  old  man  was  rugged  and  highly  pictur- 
esque in  his  personal  appearance.  His  hair  and 
stubby  beard  were  iron-gray,  his  form  was  bent, 
his  sight  was  defective  (one  eye  had  a  cata- 
ract), one  hand  was  twisted  by  the  ravages  of 
rheumatism,  making  him  appear  like  a  gnarled 
and  knotted  oak  that  had  withstood  the  stomis 
of  many  winters,  as  indeed  he  had. 

After  the  Hermitage  became  a  public  insti- 
tution, visitors  were  more  numerous  and  Uncle 
Alfred  more  interesting.    He  had  his  own  way 
9  (129) 


130       preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

of  telling  the  story,  was  systematic,  taking  a 
certain  round,  and  sometimes  arbitrary;  but 
he  was  so  quaint,  so  original,  and  so  pro- 
nounced a  type  that  visitors,  as  well  as  the 
Association  of  ladies,  overlooked  his  short- 
comings and  regarded  his  story  as  a  product 
of  the  old  plantation  days,  of  which  Uncle 
Alfred  was  a  most  interesting  exponent. 

When  visitors  arrived  he  would  invite  them 
to  register  by  saying:  "Jes'  write  yo*  name  in 
dat  book  over  dar.  De  ladies  put  dat  book 
dar,  an*  dey  wants  ever}'body  to  write  down 
dey  name."  His  strong  suit  was  his  dates. 
He  would  give  dates  for  ever3^thing,  remem- 
bering marvelously,  and  was  generally  correct. 
He  would  begin  his  story  thus:  **Dis  here  is  de 
wall  paper  General  Jackson  put  on  in  1835. 
It  was  fetched  from  Paris  an*  cum  up  de  river 
on  a  steamboat  from  New  Orleans  an'  was 
bought  for  General  Jackson's  house.  Dar  is 
de  umberel  stan',  an*  dat*s  de  hatrack,  an* 
dis  here  is  de  sofa  General  Jackson  always  lied 
upon  after  he  done  et  dinner.  Dis  here  is  one 
o*  de  pier  tables,  an*  de  bust  is  Lewis  Cass. 
He  was  in  de  President*s  Cabinet.  An*  dat's 
de  portrait  of  Christopher  Columbus." 


Uncle  Alfred's  Story.  131 

Opening  the  parlor  doors  with  great  cere- 
mony, he  would  say:  "Dese  is  General  Jack- 
son's parlors;  an'  many's  de  time  I've  seed  him 
take  Mis'  Sarah  (dat's  de  'dopted  son's  wife) 
an'  dance  up  an'  down  dese  floors  when  de 
parlor  was  full  o'  company.  General  Jackson 
bought  dat  sofa  right  dar  in  de  year  1825,  an' 
up  over  it  is  de  picture  of  de  battle  of  New 
Orleans  an'  de  death  o'  Pakenham.  Dat's 
him  right  down  dar  in  de  front  o'  de  picture. 
Dis  is  one  o'  de  pier  tables;  t'other  one's  over 
dar.  We  got  four  o'  dese,  all  General  Jack- 
son ever  had.  Dis  is  de  bust  o'  Levi  Wood- 
bury. He  was  in  General  Jackson's  Cabinet. 
Dat's  de  letter  what  he  writ  when  he  sont  it 
to  him.  Dese  is  de  damask  curtains  dat  was 
bought  in  1837,  when  dey  all  come  back  from 
Washington.  Dis  is  de  portrait  o'  Mis'  Ra- 
chel Jackson  an'  was  give  as  a  present  to  Gen- 
eral Call,  who  stole  his  bride  an'  was  married 
right  over  dar  in  dis  parlor  in  1825.  Mis' 
Jackson  stood  right  dar  while  Colonel  Earl 
drawed  her,  [Uncle  Alfred  had  the  modern 
photography  slightly  mixed  with  the  old-time 
portrait-painting.]  General  Call's  daughter 
give  it  back  to  de  ladies  arter  de  things  was 


132        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

all  tuk  away.  Dis  here  is  de  H'ltalian  mantel- 
piece put  here  in  1835,  an'  dese  andirons  was 
bought  in  1836.  Dis  center  table  was  present- 
ed to  General  Jackson  an'  Mis'  Jackson  in 
181 5  by  de  citizens  of  New  Orleans.  It  is  one 
o'  de  things  saved  when  de  house  got  burned 
down  in  1834.  Dis  mantelpiece  is  jes'  like 
t'other  one,  an'  hit's  made  o'  Tennessee  mar- 
ble." 

Uncle  Alfred's  memory  was  of  great  assist- 
ance to  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  in 
replacing  the  furniture  in  the  house  as  it  was 
purchased  from  time  to  time.  He  was  fre- 
quently called  upon  to  say  where  certain  arti- 
cles belonged.  Among  other  purchases  were 
three  pairs  of  brass  andirons. 

"Uncle  Alfred,"  said  one  of  the  managers, 
"these  andirons  that  you  say  belong  to  the 
bedroom  upstairs  are  handsomer  than  those 
in  General  Jackson's  room." 

"Course  dey  is !  course  dey  is !  Dey's  bought 
fur  Miss  Rachel;  an'  didn't  Marse  Andrew 
an'  Mis'  Sarah  think  dat  Miss  Rachel  was  er 
angel  jes'  cum  down  from  heaven?  'Twarn't 
nothin'  too  good  fur  Miss  Rachel." 


Uncle  Alfred's  Story.  133 

A  lace  cap  worn  by  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson 
when  the  beautiful  pearl  miniature  was  painted 
is  one  of  the  articles  secured  by  the  patriotic 
Association.  It  has  been  mounted  upon  a 
stand  and  placed  in  a  mirrored  glass  case,  lined 
with  blue  satin,  in  the  museum. 

Uncle  Alfred's  sight  was  very  poor,  and  he 
could  but  dimly  see  the  outline  of  articles  he 
was  pointing  out.  His  story  was  told  more 
by  memory  than  by  sight.  He  had  a  great 
scare  once  about  the  lace  cap.  "Now,  ladies 
an'  gentlemen,  dis  here's  Mis'  Jackson's  cap," 
said  he  as  he  stood  in  front  of  the  case. 

"Where,  Uncle  Alfred?"  chorused  the 
crowd,  looking  into  the  case  and  seeing  noth- 
ing. 

"Dat's  hit  right  dar  in  dis  case." 

"There's  no  cap  there.  Uncle  Alfred." 

Thrusting  his  hand  into  the  space,  he  found 
it  vacant;  then  he  was  seized  with  a  panic. 
"Tore  Gawd,  somebody's  done  tuk  Mis' 
Jackson's  cap !" 

"Miss  Ulsey !  Miss  Ulsey !"  he  called  to  the 
curator's  wife.  "Whar's  dat  cap  o'  Mis'  Jack- 
son's?" 

She  had  removed  it  until  the  case  could  be 


134       Preservation  of  the  Henn'Uage. 

made  more  secure,  for  she,  as  well  as  Uncle 
Alfred,  knew  that  the  relic  hunter  would  **think 
it  no  harm"  to  cut  off  just  a  little  piece  of  lace 
for  a  souvenir.  This  is  what  has  happened 
to  the  fringe  of  the  silk  curtain  at  the  window. 
One  tassel  after  another  disappeared,  no  one 
knew  when  or  how.  Some  of  the  historic  man- 
tel of  hickory  has  been  taken,  piece  by  piece, 
and  even  the  historic  wall  paper  has  not  been 
sacred  from  the  petty  pilferer. 

Uncle  Alfred  was  fretted,  nevertheless,  about 
the  cap  and  returned  to  his  party  grumbling, 
"Wish  folks  would  *tend  to  dey  own  business," 
and  it  was  some  tinae  before  he  regained  his 
equilibrium. 

*'Dese  mahogany  cheers  was  here  in  1824. 
Dese  four  portraits  yo*  see  roun*  here  is  Gen- 
eral Jackson's  staff.  *His  military  family,'  he 
called  'em.  Dis  one  behin'  de  door  is  Lieuten- 
ant Eastland,  dat  one  over  dar  is  Colonel 
Gadsden,  dis  one  is  Dr.  Bronagh,  an'  dis  one 
is  General  Coffee.  Dese  is  General  Jackson's 
candlesticks,  an'  dat  lookin'-glass  was  carried 
off  by  one  o'  de  servants.  De  ladies  bought  it 
an'  put  it  back  here." 

Uncle  Alfred  would  nev^er  tell  that  the  look- 


U^icle  Alfred's  Story.  135 

ing-glass  was  bought  from  Hannah,  also  a 
valued  and  esteemed  servant  at  the  Hermitage 
and  a  rival  to  Uncle  Alfred  in  longevity  and 
reminiscences.  He  never  mentioned  Hannah, 
for  there  was  a  feud  between  them  and  a  riv- 
alry as  to  which  would  live  the  longest  and  tell 
the  best  story  of  their  recollections. 

"Uncle  Alfred,  we  want  to  see  the  tomb," 
an  impatient  visitor  once  remarked.  "We'se 
coming  to  dat  bime-by,  madam.  You  jes* 
wait  till  we  gits  dar."  He  didn't  mean  to  be 
impertinent,  but  took  privileges  and  was  al- 
lowed some  that  belonged  to  no  other. 

A  lady  visitor  expressed  doubt  one  day 
concerning  some  piece  of  furniture,  saying: 
"This  never  belonged  to  Jackson."  "Ef  you 
knows  more  about  it  den  I  does,  madam,  den 
you  jes'  go  on  an'  tell  it." 

A  French  clock  that  was  in  the  house  during 
Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson's  lifetime  was  purchased. 
It  is  a  beautiful  clock,  but  its  days  of  useful- 
ness were  over  long  years  ago.  The  idea  of 
setting  the  hands  at  the  hour  the  old  hero  died 
suggested  itself,  and  investigation  was  made 
as  to  the  correct  hour.  Accepting  Uncle  Al- 
fred's recollection,  the  hands  were  set  at  twen- 


136       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

ty  minutes  past  two.  A  further  investigation 
and  consultation  with  Mrs.  Lawrence  proved 
the  hour  to  have  been  twenty  minutes  past  six. 
The  next  time  one  of  the  directors  went  to 
the  Hermitage  the  hands  of  the  clock  were 
changed  to  the  correct  hour. 

"Uncle  Alfred,"  she  said,  "we  had  this 
clock  wrong.  General  Jackson  died  at  twenty 
minutes  past  six." 

"Who  sez  so?"  he  asked  quickly. 

"Mrs.  Lawrence." 

"Mis'  Lawrence  fergits." 

"Well,  history  says  so  too." 

"Dat's  all  right  den*  jes'  suit  your  own  self 
*bout  it.    I  ain't  gwine  to  'spute  'bout  it." 

He  was  afterwards  heard  to  give  the  cor- 
rect hour  in  his  narrative.  He  tacitly  admit- 
ted that  he  was  wrong,  though  he  did  not  often 
yield  a  point. 

Some  young  girls  rushed  up  to  him  one  day 
and  exclaimed :  "Uncle  Alfred,  did  you  tell  us 
that  General  Jackson  was  born  in  this  house 
or  in  that  log  cabin  over  yonder?"  pointing  to 
the  historic  log  cabin  some  distance  away. 

"Huh!"  said  Uncle  Alfred  contemptuously. 
"Yo's    got    yo'    hist'ry    mixed.      He    wam't 


Uncle  Alfred's  Story.  137 

borned  dar,  an*  he  warn't  borned  here;  he's 
horned  in  South  CaroHna." 

Uncle  Alfred  always  reached  his  climax 
when  he  told  the  story  of  the  ''eighth  of  Jan- 
uary" mantelpiece  in  the  large  State  dining 
room,  where  Uncle  Alfred  was  fond  of  telling, 
and  truly,  that  seven  Presidents  had  dined. 
Gathering  his  listeners  around  him  in  front 
of  the  mantelpiece,  he  would  say:  "Now,  la- 
dies an'  gentlemen,  dis  here  is  de  *eighth  day 
o'  January  mantelpiece/  Dey  warn't  nair  bit 
o'  work  done  on  it  'ceptin'  on  de  eighth  day 
o'  January,  an'  den  it  was  give  to  General 
Jackson  on  de  eighth  day  o'  January.  An'  de 
pieces  o'  hickoi-y  what  yer  see  dar  was  cut  of- 
fen  de  fort  w^har  de  battle  was  fought,  down 
dar  at  New  Orleans,  at  de  mouf  o'  de  Missis- 
sippi River.     You-all  knows  whar  'tis." 

*Tell  us  about  it,  Uncle  Alfred,"  chorused 
the  crowd. 

"Well,  den.  On  de  mornin'  de  battle  was 
foug:ht  General  Pakenham  —  he's  de  British 
general — sont  General  Jackson  word  he  gwine 
ter  eat  his  breakfas'  in  New  Orleans;  an'  Gen- 
eral Jackson  sont  him  back  word  ef  he  et  his 
breakfas'  anywhar  he  gwine  ter  make  him  eat 


138        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

it  in  hell.  Den  he  drawed  his  sw-word  an*  say : 
'Come  on,  my  brave  boys,  de  day  is  cum/ 
He's  ridin'  Juke  [Duke]  dat  day;  he  warn't 
ridin'  Sam  Patch,  dat  'ar  white  horse  hangin' 
dar  in  de  parlor  what  Ise  already  done  tol'  yer 
about.  He's  ridin'  Juke.  An'  Juke  he  dance 
Yankee  Doodle  on  three  legs;  an'  he  dance  it 
so  plain  dat  de  ban'  struck  up  and  play : 

'Jackson,  Jackson,  yer's  de  man  for  me; 
Jackson,  Jackson,  yer  set  us  all  free.* 

Den  General  Jackson  say : 

*De  star-spangled  banner,  long  may  she  wave 
O'er  de  Ian'  o'  de  free  .an*  de  home  says  de  brave.*" 

This  was  Uncle  Alfred's  masterpiece,  and  it 
brought  forth  showers  of  silver  coin  by  way 
of  appreciation.  He  would  rise  to  real  elo- 
quence and  in  his  ow^n  quaint  negro  dialect 
give  the  story.  With  his  rugged  form  and 
his  own  peculiar  characteristics  he  was  an  ob- 
ject of  the  greatest  interest,  especially  to  vis- 
itors from  the  North,  to  whom  his  type  and 
reminiscences  of  old  slave  days  were  a  novelty. 

From  the  dining  room  Uncle  Alfred  took  the 
visitors  to  the  General's  bedroom,  and  here  he 
would  tell  his  story  of  the  deathbed  scene.    The 


Uncle  Alfred's  Story,  139 

chamber  is  as  it  was  the  day  the  old  hero  died, 
all  the  furniture  and  belongings  having  been 
secured  by  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
and  restored  to  their  places.  Iron  guards  pre- 
vent the  visitor  from  entering,  which  Uncle 
Alfred  explained  was  to  keep  "de  second  class*' 
from  taking  things.  He  continued  his  story  of 
the  deathbed  scene : 

"Early  dat  morning  Mis'  Sarah  sont  me  to 
Nashville  arter  Dr.  Esselman  an'  Major  Lewis 
an'  fer  some  medicine  an'  things.  When  I 
cum  back  Mis'  Sarah  say:  'Alfred,  you  got 
to  go  back.'  An'  I  got  me  a  fresh  horse  an' 
went  back  to  Nashville  an'  fetched  out  some 
more  things.  When  I  got  back  to  de  Her- 
mitage all  de  servants  was  standin'  'roun'  de 
front  window,  an'  I  knowed  General  Jackson 
was  wusser.  I  tuk  de  things  an'  went  in  de 
room  an'  stood  a  roun'  an'  waited  on  him. 
Den  me  an'  George  an'  Dick  hilt  him  up.  De 
servants  was  at  de  window,  an'  some  of  'em 
was  in  de  room.  Major  Lewis  say,  'Hadn't 
we  better  send  'em  away?'  but  General  Jack- 
son say,  *No.'  Dey'd  been  faithful  servants, 
an'  he  wanted  'em  to  stay  right  whar  dey  wuz. 
When  he  see  'em  all  a-cryin'  he  say :  'Weep  not 


140       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

fer  me;  weep  fer  yo'selves.'  Den  he  say: 
*Dere'll  be  no  mo'  reunion  'less  everybody  be 
good.' 

"Dat's  de  picture  o*  Mis'  Jackson  over  de 
mantelpiece  dar.  Dat  was  de  las'  thing  he 
looked  at  'fore  he  died.  Dis  picture  over  here 
is  de  'dopted  son,  and  t'other  one  is  Miss 
Rachel,  de  'dopted  son's  daughter.  Dat  little 
picture  over  de  do'  was  tuk  by  a  young  man 
dat  come  here  from  de  East.  General  Jack- 
son 'lowed  he  didn't  want  to  be  pestered  wid 
havin'  his  picture  tuk,  but  de  young  man  say 
he  was  a  poor  man  an'  wanted  to  make  a  hon- 
es' livin'.  Den  General  Jackson  say:  *Ef  it's 
anything  to  yo',  go  'long  an'  take  it.'  De 
picture's  got  writ  on  it — let  me  see — I  fergits 
— ^jes'  wait  a  minute.  *No  free  country  can 
exist  widout  virtue  among  its  people,'  dat's 
hit,  an'  it's  writ  'roun'  on  the  picture. 

"Dis  is  de  office.  You-all  calls  it  de  library, 
but  'tain't  no  library ;  hit's  de  office,  an'  here's 
whar  General  Jackson  seed  all  de  great  men 
dat  come  here  to  ax  him  something  or  to  jes' 
see  him." 

For  thirty  years,  or  from  the  great  victory 
at  New  Orleans  in   181 5  until  the  death  of 


Uncle  Alfred's  Story.  141 

General  Jackson  in  1845,  the  Hermitage  was 
the  political  center  of  the  United  States,  and 
all  the  countr}^  paid  deference  to  the  old  hero 
passing  away  there.  The  library,  or  office,  ad- 
joins the  bedroom  of  General  Jackson;  and 
the  old  General  received  all  visitors  in  this  li- 
brary and  transacted  all  business  there,  holding 
council  with  all  the  great  men  of  the  country, 
who  came  and  stayed  for  days  and  sometimes 
for  weeks,  seeking  advice  and  inspiration  from 
him. 

The  library  is  a  beautiful  room  now.  It 
was  one  of  the  most  abused  in  all  the  house 
when  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  took 
possession.  It  contains  General  Jackson's  five 
bookcases,  filled  with  his  books,  four  hundred 
and  fifty  volumes;  the  old  walnut  secretary 
used  by  Jackson  when  he  was  a  practicing  at- 
torney; a  chair  presented  to  Jackson  by  Chief 
Justice  Taney;  and  a  chair  presented  to  the 
Ladies'  Hennitage  Association  by  Miss  Ellen 
DeQ.  Woodbury,  daughter  of  Levi  Woodbury, 
whose  bust  is  in  the  house. 

Showing  the  visitors  the  carriage  drive  one 
day,  Uncle  Alfred  said :  "Yo'  sees  dat  o-it-dar," 
waving  his  hand  toward  the  front. 


142        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

*'0  yes,  Uncle  Alfred,  you  rot  there  all 
right." 

*'l  means  de  git-dar." 

*'Yes,  we  understand,"  and  they  laughed. 
**Pretty  clever.  You  always  get  there.  Uncle 
Alfred." 

"That's  not  what  he's  telling  you,"  said  one 
of  the  informed  ones.  ''Don't  you  see  the 
drive  is  shaped  like  a  guitar." 

"O,  to  be  sure !"  and  the  guests  had  the  laugh 
turned  on  them  and  ever  afterwards  told  it  as 
one  of  Uncle  Alfred's  best. 

Uncle  Alfred  never  approached  the  tomb 
without  reverence,  and*  he  exacted  the  same 
reverence  from  others.  A  member  of  the  As- 
sociation upon  one  occasion  thoughtlessly 
stepped  upon  the  slab  immediately  above  Gen- 
eral JacksoiVs  remains  bearing  the  inscription. 
He  rebuked  her  respectfully  but  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  the  lesson  w^as  never  forgotten. 

Uncle  Alfred  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
but  when  he  reached  the  tomb  he  was  always 
asked  to  "read"  the  beautiful  inscription  upon 
the  tablet  above  Mrs.  Jackson's  remains.  With 
uncovered  head  he  stepped  to  the  foot  of  the 
slab,  looked  at  it  as  if  he  were  seeing  every 


Uncle  Alfred's  Story.  143 

word,  and  from  memory  **read,"  without  an 
error  from  beginning  to  end,  the  beautiful 
tribute.  He  would  pronounce  the  words  in 
his  own  way,  in  the  plantation  dialect,  giving 
an  added  charm. 

His  stories  had  nothing  set  and  stilted,  but, 
while  following  the  main  facts,  were  varied 
according  to  questions  asked  him,  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  moment,  or  as  memory  called  up 
new  facts  long  hidden  in  her  secret  storehouse. 
His  life  had  been  lived  at  the  Hermitage,  and 
he  viewed  everything  from  this  point  of  view. 
The  visitors  w^ho  came  there  were  the  only 
strangers  he  ever  saw,  but  all  his  life  he  had 
been  thrown  more  with  white  people  than  with 
those  of  his  own  race.  When  large  conven- 
tions or  organizations  visited  there.  Uncle  Al- 
fred was  introduced  as  the  most  interesting 
relic  on  the  place. 

Admiral  and  Mrs.  Dewey,  with  a  large  as- 
semblage of  Nashville  people,  visited  the  Her- 
mitage IMay  II,  1900.  They  were  permitted 
to  enter  General  Jackson's  bedchamber.  The 
party  stood  within  General  Jackson's  room,  and 
Uncle  Alfred  was  telling  the  story.  Pointing 
to  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson  over 


144       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage > 

the  mantel,  he  said  to  Mrs.  Dewey:  *'I  hope 
you'll  have  better  luck  den  she  did,  madam." 
Many  a  Beau  Brummel  might  have  failed  of 
as  pretty  and  delicate  a  compliment.  It  was 
understood  at  that  time  that  Admiral  Dewey 
would  be  a  candidate  for  the  presidency.  Mrs. 
Rachel  Jackson  had  died  after  her  husband's 
election  and  before  his  inauguration. 

Uncle  Alfred  could  never  be  induced  to  ad- 
mit that  any  man  had  ever  been  or  ever  could 
be  as  great  as  General  Jackson.  Members  of 
the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  were  much 
mortified  on  one  occasion  at  the  old  man's 
bluntness.  Ex-President  Rutherford  B.  Hayes, 
while  attending  the  National  Convention  of 
the  Prison  Association  which  met  in  Nashville, 
was  extended  the  courtesies  of  the  Hermitage 
and  was  taken  there  by  some  members  of  the 
Ladies'  Hermitage  Association.  Calling  Uncle 
Alfred  forward,  he  was  introduced  with  the 
remark:  "Uncle  Alfred,  this  is  President 
Hayes.  Come  and  shake  hands  with  him." 
He  grasped  the  ex-President's  hand  and  said: 
**Ef  you'd  been  as  great  a  man  as  General 
Jackson  was,  I  could  a'most  er  shook  yer  han' 
off." 


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Uncle  Alfred's  Story.  145 

One  time  a  prominent  judge  visited  the 
Hermitag-e  before  Uncle  Alfred  began  to  show 
the  feebleness  of  age,  although  he  was  past 
eighty  years  old.  He  was  vigorous  and  stal- 
wart and  proud  of  his  great  age.  ''Now, 
Judge,  how  old  does  yer  think  I  is?"  he  asked 
after  a  conversation.  **Well,  I  should  say 
about  fifty,"  replied  the  Judge,  thinking  to 
please  him.  "O,  Judge!"  whispered  a  lady 
who  overheard  the  remark.  "You  break  the 
old  man  all  up.  Tell  him  a  hundred."  "Well, 
sir,  Ise  eighty-nine  years  old." 

Another  time  he  was  asked  what  he  thought 
of  a  distinguished  visitor.  He  thought  it  over 
and  said :  "Folks  has  got  a  right  to  think  what 
dey  please,  but  when  dey  tells  what  dey  think 
dey  gets  'emselves  in  trouble." 

A  lady  visitor,  having  very  indistinct  ideas 
about  the  old  institution  of  slavery  and  very 
wanting  in  tact,  asked  him:  "Uncle  Alfred, 
did  General  Jackson  ever  try  to  sell  you?" 
The  question  irritated  him,  and  he  replied 
tartly,  "Did  any  of  your  folks  ever  try  to  sell 
you,  madam  ?"  which  closed  the  query  box. 

Another  of  the  same  kind  asked  him  one 
day:  "Uncle  Alfred,  how  do  you  like  being 
10 


146       preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

free?"  "What  does  yer  call  being  free?"  he 
replied.  "  'Tain't  nobody  free  as  I  know  on. 
But  if  yo*  means  go  whar  yo'  please  an*  when 
yo'  please,  I  always  is  done  dat." 

The  old  man's  delight  at  seeing  each  article 
of  relic  furniture,  a  portrait,  or  a  chair  re- 
turned knew  no  bounds.  Every  article  was 
recognized  by  him  as  an  old  friend.  He  told 
the  story  of  its  purchase,  some  interesting  fact 
connected  with  it,  and  designated  its  place  in 
the  house.  He  longed  to  see  the  work  of  res- 
toration complete,  but  that  pleasure  was  denied 
him. 

There  was  one  pair  of  articles  that  he  de- 
sired above  all  things  to  see  in  the  old  house. 
"Can't  you-all  get  dem  ar  Mexican  leggin's?" 
he  would  ask  time  and  again.  He  must  have 
thought  they  were  pretty.  They  were  present- 
ed to  General  Jackson  by  Sam  Houston,  and 
in  Uncle  Alfred's  eyes  they  were  of  inesti- 
mable value.  The  Association  has  never  yet 
procured  the  leggings. 

The  directors  of  the  Association  visited  the 
Hermitage  frequently  to  supervise  its  affairs, 
rearrange  its  furniture,  or  restore  some  new 
acquisition  to  its  place.    On  one  of  these  visits 


Uncle  Alfred's  Story,  147 

the  office  was  being  arranged.  Two  steel  en- 
gravings were  removed  from  the  hall  and 
transferred  to  the  office.  As  soon  as  Uncle 
Alfred  entered  the  hall  he  missed  the  pictures. 
To  his  defective  vision  they  were  nothing  more 
than  dark  blurs  upon  the  wall,  but  he  had 
missed  the  blur.  He  had  incorporated  them  in 
his  story  and  did  not  approve  of  their  change 
of  position.  "What's  you-all  done  wid  dem 
pictures  o'  George  Washington  an'  William  de 
IV.?"  he  asked.  "We  have  put  them  in  the 
office,  Uncle  Alfred."  "Good  God-a-mighty ! 
You-all's  ruinin'  dis  here  place." 

Uncle  Alfred  understood  thoroughly  the 
value  of  a  relic  and  the  preservation  of  the 
memorial  place,  and  he  assisted  the  Association 
in  keeping  the  entire  premises  just  as  General 
Jackson  had. 

The  time  came  when  it  was  apparent  that 
Uncle  Alfred  would  one  day  be  missed  at  the 
Hermitage  and  a  new-made  grave  be  all  that 
was  left  of  him.  The  idea  suggested  itself  of 
preserving  his  voice  and  story  by  having  him 
repeat  it  in  a  graphophone.  An  operator  and 
an  instrument  were  taken  to  the  Hermitage  and 


148       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

an  effort  made  to  get  the  story.  He  had  never 
seen  and  probably  had  never  heard  of  a  graph- 
ophone,  and  yet  when  he  had  received  instruc- 
tions he  seated  himself  before  the  instrument 
and  told  his  story  as  if  pointing  out  and  ex- 
hibiting each  article.  But  the  experiment  was 
not  a  success.  His  voice  was  then  too  feeble 
and  too  guttural  to  reproduce  in  the  instrument. 

It  was  not  many  months  before  Uncle  Al- 
fred was  confined  to  his  cabin,  the  same  in 
which  he  had  lived  when  he  married.  He  was 
never  confined  to  his  bed — "jest  porely/'  he 
expressed  it.  He  C9ntinued  ill  nearly  a  year, 
and  during  that  time  visitors  went  to  see  him 
in  his  own  cabin.  He  would  try  to  tell  the 
old  stories  and  throw  some  of  the  old-time  fire 
into  them.  His  mind  never  seemed  to  fail  nor 
his  miem.ory  to  be  less  active,  and  to  the  very 
last  he  retained  his  faculties.  When  asked 
how  he  felt,  he  would  always  say,  "I'm  mend- 
in'  a  bit,"  and  then  add:  "Ise  gwine  ter  try 
ter  git  ter  de  house  an'  see  dem  t'other  things 
you-all  bought  since  I  bin  down  here." 

Uncle  Alfred  w^as  given  every  comfort  and 
was  grateful.     When  he  died,  the  Association 


Uncle  Alfred's  Story,  149 

superintended  his  funeral  and  interment,  bury- 
ing him  in  the  garden  near  the  "old  marster" 
he  had  loved  so  loyally — a  last  longing  desire 
with  him.  His  funeral  was  characteristic  and 
in  keeping  w^ith  the  long  life  he  had  lived.  His 
-  body  was  brought  from  his  cabin  and  the  casket 
set  in  the  hall  where,  sixty-four  years  before, 
he  had  been  married. 

More  white  people  attended  his  funeral  than 
colored  ones,  and  the  services  were  conducted 
by  both  white  and  colored  preachers.  The 
colored  people  sang  *'0n  Jordan's  stormy 
banks  I  stand,"  a  favorite  with  the  old  man. 
The  singing  was  indescribable.  The  song  was 
lined  out  in  a  sort  of  chant  or  monotone,  then 
caught  up  and  carried  with  a  wail  and  a  hang- 
ing on  to  the  tones,  now  up,  now  down,  quaint 
and  peculiar,  impossible  to  describe  and  never 
to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  heard  it.  It  was 
a  song  that  would  lose  by  any  attempt  to 
imitate  or  put  it  in  written  form,  such  a  song 
as  only  the  plantation  negroes  of  long  ago 
knew  and  sang  and  which  is  now  sung  only  in 
the  rural  districts  far  away  from  the  educa- 
tional centers. 


150       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

A  neat  stone  marks  Uncle  Alfred's  resting 
place,  inscribed: 

Alfred  Jackson, 

1803-1901, 

A  Faithful  Servant. 

It  is  located  just  north  of  the  tomb  of  Gen. 
Andrew  Jackson. 


CHAPTER  X. 
The  Ghost  at  the  Hermitage. 

After  Col.  Andrew  Jackson,  the  third  of 
that  name,  and  his  family  moved  away  from 
the  Hermitage,  in  1893,  and  had  taken  with 
them  all  the  relics,  furniture,  and  entire  house- 
hold belongings,  there  was  left  behind  only  a 
memory  of  things  that  had  been.  Not  a  single 
piece  of  furniture  was  left  in  the  house.  All 
belonged  to  Colonel  Jackson,  and  all  had  been 
taken  away. 

The  grand  old  homestead,  shorn  of  its 
adornings  that  for  three-quarters  of  a  century 
had  been  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  place,  looked 
most  pathetic  and  desolate.  The  mirrors  that 
had  reflected  the  tall,  commanding  form  of  the 
old  General  were  missed  from  their  accustomed 
places  over  the  mantels.  The  portraits  that 
had  looked  down  upon  him  as  he  walked 
through  the  rooms,  the  chairs  he  sat  in,  the 
table  over  which  he  presided  when  hospitality 
reigned  supreme,  the  sideboard  laden  with  cut 
glass  and  silver,  with  its  decanters  and  wine 

(151) 


152       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

glasses,  no  longer  fitted  up  the  beautiful  Her- 
mitage. The  great  empty  rooms  seemed  to 
gain  an  immensity  of  space  for  want  of  a  chair 
or  a  curtain  to  break  the  outline.  The  bare 
halls  echoed  to  ever}^  footstep.  Not  a  scrap  of 
paper,  not  a  broken  chair,  not  a  battered  picture 
was  left  of  all  that  had  once  belonged  to  the 
famous  place. 

The  walls  that  had  once  been  adorned  with 
portraits  of  the  family  and  friends  were  now 
bare  and  but  added  to  the  forlorn  desolateness. 
The  vast  chimney  places  that  had  glowed  with 
roaring  log  fires,  around  which  gathered  merry 
and  happy  groups  in  the  long  ago,  when  joy 
reigned  supreme,  were  now  dark  and  cold. 
They  had  become  the  home  of  hundreds  of 
chimney  swallows,  whose  burrings  and  flutter- 
ings  and  tv/itterings  made  unearthly  sounds  as 
their  restless  wings  beat  against  the  sides,  loos- 
ening bits  of  mortar  and  soot,  which  fell  to 
the  open  space  below. 

While  the  parlors,  hallways,  and  living 
rooms  downstairs  were  desolate  and  pathetic, 
the  upper  chambers  were  truly  ghostly,  the  bare 
and  vacant  halls  echoing  to  every  footstep. 
There  was  something  uncanny  about  it  even  in 


> 
o 

w 

o 

12! 


The  Ghost  at  the  Hermitage,        153 

broad  daylight,  with  the  bright  July  sun  driv- 
ing away  the  vapors  and  dispelling  all  ghostly 
thoughts. 

Isolation,  desolation,  death  characterized  the 
once  famous  Hermitage.  Some  divine  hand 
seemed  to  have  written  "Ichabod"  on  the  walls. 
Walking  through  the  hall  and  upper  chambers, 
deep  in  meditation  and  memory,  one  could  well 
exclaim : 

"I  feel  like  one  who  treads  alone 
Some  banquet   hall   deserted, 
Whose  lights  are  fled,  whose  garlands  dead. 
And  all  but  he  departed." 

Outside,  the  lawn  was  green  and  beautiful 
and  the  trees  full-leaved;  but  the  soughing 
winds,  now  soft  and  tender,  now  rustling  gen- 
tly, now  whispering  mysteriously,  but  added  to 
the  melancholy  that  brooded  over  the  place. 
Beautiful  flowers  were  abloom  in  the  garden, 
and.  the  birds  sang  as  sweetly  and  joyously  as 
of  yore ;  but  the  house  itself  was  a  bare,  empty 
shell.  The  beings  who  had  peopled  it  with  life 
were  all  gone.  The  General  and  his  beloved 
Rachel  had  long  slumbered  in  the  garden.  The 
little  babe  who  was  adopted  into  their  heart, 
their  home,  and  their  name  had  lived,  loved, 


154        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

and  died,  and  in  time  his  wife  had  followed 
him  to  the  tomb.  Two  little  infant  children, 
whose  brief  span  was  soon  over,  had  two  little 
mounds  and  a  stone  to  their  memory  near  their 
illustrious  grandsire.  Other  graves  were  in  the 
burial  plat,  and  kindred  dust  crumbled  together 
in  the  garden. 

Memories,  memories,  memories  everywhere ! 
The  house  that  had  been  so  full  of  bustling 
life  and  illustrious  history,  with  all  of  its 
achievements,  ambitions,  hopes,  loves,  and  suf- 
fering, was  now  but  a  memory.  Devoted 
women  were  there  to  revive  anew  the  memory 
of  Jackson,  to  summon  back  his  spirit,  and  to 
show  to  all  the  world  the  house  of  the  illus- 
trious man,  preserved,  restored,  that  no  icon- 
oclastic hand  might  m.utilatc  or  destroy  it. 

The  spirit  of  "Old  Hickory"  lived  in  the 
hearts  of  these  patriotic  women,  and  they  said : 
"The  Hermitage  must  and  shall  be  preserved.** 
Into  the  hands  of  women,  organized  into  an 
Association,  the  State  Legislature  had  intrust- 
ed the  preservation  of  Andrew  Jackson^s  home. 
Two  of  these  patriotic  women  arrived  at  the 
Hermitage  early  one  Saturday  morning  in 
July,  soon  after  Col.  Andrew  Jackson  moved 


The  Ghost  at  the  Hermitage,        155 

away,  prepared  to  spend  as  many  days  and 
nights  as  were  necessary  in  the  protection  of 
the  historic  homestead  until  a  permanent  care- 
taker could  be  installed  on  the  premises.  Some 
small  necessary  articles  for  a  temporary  resi- 
dence had  been  purchased — a  few  chairs,  two 
small  tables,  a  mattress,  and  several  cooking 
vessels.  A  young  negro  girl  was  employed 
from  a  neighboring  farm  to  come  each  day  and 
prepare  the  simple,  necessary  meals,  but  at 
night  she  returned  to  her  home. 

Through  the  long,  hot  July  days  the  Her- 
mitage was  a  most  pleasant  place — in  fact,  an 
ideal  resort.  The  cool  halls  and  spacious 
rooms  were  grateful  retreats  from  the  July 
sun.  The  day  was  spent  by  the  two  ladies, 
the  Regent  and  Secretary,  in  making  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  house  and  grounds, 
in  forming  plans  for  the  future,  in  writing 
letters,  and  in  devising  ways  and  means  for 
sustaining  the  enterprise.  When  nightfall 
came,  a  frugal  supper  was  served  in  the  old 
historic  kitchen,  having  been  prepared  in  the 
open,  yawning  fireplace  by  the  colored  maid 
with  a  few  simple  cooking  vessels.  Assisted 
by  the  colored  maid,  a  careful  inspection  was 


IS6       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

made  of  the  house,  the  windows  closed,  the 
doors  locked,  the  mattress  spread  as  a  pallet 
on  the  floor  of  the  front  parlor,  and  the  self- 
constituted  guardians  prepared  to  spend  their 
first  night  alone  in  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson's 
house. 

Old  Uncle  Alfred,  it  was  true,  was  in  his 
cabin  some  distance  from  the  house;  but  he 
was  old,  nearly  deaf,  nearly  blind,  and  not  to 
be  left  in  charge  of  so  important  a  trust  nor 
depended  upon  in  case  of  danger. 

The  two  custodians  brought  two  of  their 
newly  purchased  chairs,  stiff-backed,  uncom- 
fortable things  that  they  were,  to  the  front 
portico  and  sat  with  the  quiet  of  nature  all 
about  them.  The  dusky  form  of  the  tempo- 
rary cook  as  she  left  for  her  home  was  the  last 
living  thing  that  enlivened  the  landscape  or 
gave  to  the  self-constituted  guardians  a  glimpse 
of  the  life  to  which  they  were  accustomed. 

A  kerosene  lamp,  one  of  the  purchases,  was 
lighted  and  placed  upon  one  of  the  tables  in 
the  vast,  quaint  hallway.  Its  dim  light  fell 
but  faintly  upon  the  pictorial  wall  paper,  the 
"Legend  of  Telemachus,"  that  adorns  the 
walls,  the  only  familiar  thing  in  all  the  house. 


The  Ghost  at  the  Hermitage,        157 

As  it  burned  faintly  it  was  of  itself  ghostly, 
and  ghostly  shadows  lurked  in  the  recesses  of 
the  hallway.  The  darkness  deepened,  and  the 
avenue  of  cedars  seemed  a  vast  tunneled  arch 
in  which  the  shadows  played  and  lingered.  The 
moon  arose  and  cast  poetic  shadows  all  around 
the  old  house,  peeping  under  the  trees,  silver- 
ing the  woodland. 

A  mocking  bird,  stimulated  by  what  prom- 
ised to  be  a  glorious  night,  poured  out  a  joy- 
ous song  from  the  magnolia  tree  that  kept 
sentinel  watch  over  the  sleeping  dead  at  the 
tomb  in  the  garden. 

A  tree,  said  to  be  the  shittim  wood,  the 
sam.e  of  which  Noah's  ark  was  built,  stood  to 
the  v/est  of  the  house.  As  the  two  talked  over 
their  plans  the  quaint,  weird,  plaintive  cry  of 
a  screech  owl  rang  out  from  this  old  tree.  It 
w^as  hollow,  and  the  birds  had  nested  there. 
The  shrill  call  to  its  mate  had  more  of  the 
sound  of  warning  and  alarm  than  of  joy. 
The  effect  was  mournful  and  piercing. 

Time  dragged  on,  and  it  seemed  to  be  grow- 
ing late ;  but  when  they  consulted  their  watches 
really  at  an  earlier  hour  than  was  customary 
with  them  in  their  city  homes,  they  sought 


158       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

their  pallet  on  the  floor  in  the  front  parlor  and 
were  soon  wrapped  in  a  profound  slumber. 

Did  General  Jackson's  spirit  hover  over  that 
empty,  ghostly  room  and  the  memories  of  the 
sweet-faced  daughter-in-law,  Sarah,  come  up 
before  him  while  they  danced  again  the  Vir- 
ginia reel  in  the  spacious  rooms? 

Hours  passed,  and  the  two  ladies  slept  calm- 
ly. Suddenly  there  arose  through  the  house 
the  most  terrific  noises.  The  pantry,  which 
was  near,  seemed  to  have  tossed  all  of  its  pans 
and  dishes  in  a  confused  heap  upon  the  floor, 
chains  were  heard  clanking  over  the  porticoes, 
and  a  confusion  of  sounds  made  a  most  deaf- 
ening clatter.  It  was  as  if  General  Jackson 
had  mounted  his  war  charger  and  was  riding 
with  a  victorious  shout  at  the  head  of  his  mili- 
tary forces  through  the  hall  and  corridor. 

In  a  moment  both  ladies  were  thoroughly 
awake;  and  if  fear  possessed  them,  each  was 
too  brave  to  let  the  other  know  it.  Both  sat 
up  on  the  pallet.  The  elder  said  to  the 
younger,  speaking  calmly:  **Light  the  lamp. 
You  will  find  the  matches  on  the  floor  near 
your  head."  The  lamp  was  lighted,  and  as 
suddenly  as  the  noises  came  they  ceased  en- 


The  Ghost  at  the  Hermitage.        159 

tirely.  The  ladies  looked  at  each  other  in- 
quiringly. "Do  you  think  any  one  was  trying 
to  break  in?"  said  one.  "It  might  have  been 
the  rats,"  said  the  other.  The  lamp  was  left 
lighted.  The  two  talked  together  a  little 
while,  then  dropped  off  to  sleep  again  and 
heard  nothing  more. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  a  beautiful,  calm 
July  Sabbath  day  in  the  country.  The  maid 
came  and  prepared  breakfast.  The  ladies  did 
not  discuss  to  a  great  extent  the  occurrences 
of  the  night  before,  and  the  noises  were  still 
unaccounted  for.  There  was  no  sound  of 
Sunday  service,  no  bells  ringing,  no  throng 
wending  its  way  to  church,  and  none  of  the 
characteristics  of  a  Sabbath  day  in  the  city. 
There  was  no  service  in  the  historic  Hermit- 
age church,  but  a  half  mile  distant. 

The  younger  woman,  without  consulting  the 
older,  inspected  the  house  thoroughly  from 
one  end  to  the  other,  spied  into  closets,  peered 
up  chimneys,  examined  the  cellar,  and  investi- 
gated every  possible  nook  and  cranny  that 
could  by  any  means  have  harbored  a  ghost,  to 
ascertain  if  the  noises  could  be  explained  by 
any  natural  causes.    A  baffling  sphinxlike  con- 


i6o       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

dition  met  her  at  every  turn,  and  there  was 
discovered  absolutely  nothing  to  account  for 
the  sounds. 

Sunday  was  passed  as  the  other  days,  in 
walking  over  the  place,  meditating  in  the  gar- 
den, and  enjoying  the  cool  quiet  of  the  place. 
Literature  had  been  brought  from  the  city  to 
while  away  the  time.  No  visitor  or  stranger 
came  to  break  the  monotony  of  a  long  summer 
day. 

Again  nightfall  came,  and  again  the  care- 
takers seated  themselves  on  the  front  portico. 
The  moon  was  later  in  rising,  and  a  few  clouds 
flecked  the  sky.  Ov^r  to  the  west  a  long,  low 
phosphorescent  light  showed  where  lay  the 
city,  with  its  teeming  life  and  its  busy  people, 
the  thought  of  which  made  more  lonely  and 
isolated  the  work  of  the  caretakers.  The  owl 
again  set  up  his  plaintive  cry,  and  the  mocking 
bird's  song  sounded  away  over  in  the  distant 
forest. 

At  about  the  same  time  as  the  evening  be- 
fore the  two  ladies  retired  to  their  pallet.  This 
night  the  lamp  was  not  extinguished,  and  both 
soon  fell  into  a  sound  slumber.  As  nearly  as 
the  ladies  could  judge,  at  the  same  time  the 


The  Ghost  at  the  Hermitage »         i6i 

same  sounds  were  heard,  unmistakable  and 
ghostly — ^the  same  dishes  falHng  down  in  the 
pantry,  the  same  sound  of  chains,  the  same 
war  horse  tread,  the  same  arousing  out  of 
sleep,  wondering  what  it  could  all  mean,  and 
the  same  willingness  to  leave  it  all  to  conjec- 
ture. Although  very  brave,  two  city  ladies 
did  not  care  to  investigate  mysterious  noises 
in  a  large,  empty  country  house  at  the  mid- 
night hour. 

It  was  a  long  time  afterwards  before  these 
two  ladies  could  discuss,  even  together,  the 
ghost  at  the  Hermitage  and  laugh  at  their  un- 
canny experience.  But  they  never  learned 
what  caused  the  sounds  and  finally  concluded 
that  they  had  had  an  actual  experience  with 
ghosts. 

II 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Brides  at  the  Hermitage. 

For  all  his  stern  military  qualities,  Gen.  An- 
drew Jackson  had  a  most  romantic  side  to  his 
nature,  which  needed  nothing  stronger  to  prove 
it  than  his  own  chivalrous  marriage  to  Rachel 
Donelson.  His  was  an  unusually  happy  mar- 
riage and  carried  with  it  a  beautiful  home  life. 
His  devotion  to  his  wife  was  not  lessened  even 
after  her  death.  Nothing  had  so  softened  and 
subdued  him  as  the  loss  of  this  beloved  com- 
panion.  He  became  so  patient  and  so  gentle 
that  all  wondered  at  the  change  in  him,  and 
it  was  said  that  he  never  uttered  an  angry 
word  and  scarcely  ever  an  impatient  one  after 
her  death. 

Long  years  ago  Amos  Kendall,  who  was  in 
the  Cabinet,  wrote  for  the  Democratic  Review, 
a  paper  published  in  Washington  during  the 
Jackson  administration,  the  following  inter- 
esting article  on  the  man  himself  and  also  paid 
a  graceful  tribute  to  Mrs.  Jackson,    Said  he: 

The  practice  of  reading  or  listening  to  a  chapter  of 
Holy  Writ  and  sending  up  fervent  aspirations  to  heaven 

(t62) 


Brides  at  the  Hermitage,  163 

every  night  before  he  retired  to  rest  General  Jackson 
brought  with  him  into  the  presidency.  No  man  had  a 
deeper  sense  of  dependence  on  the  Giver  of  all  good 
or  a  more  sincere  and  earnest  desire  to  avail  himself 
of  the  wisdom  which  comes  from  on  high  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  arduous  duties.  But  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  in  his  devotional  fervor  there  was  mingled  a  holy 
and  never-dying  affection  for  his  departed  wife,  whose 
presence  was  in  his  susceptible  imagination  as  neces- 
sary an  incident  of  heaven  as  that  of  the  angels. 

A  portrait  of  this  dearest  object  of  his  earthly  af- 
fection hung  in  his  chamber.  "Is  that  a  good  like- 
ness?" said  a  lady  to  him  in  my  presence.  "Pretty 
good,"  said  he,  "but  not  so  good  as  this,"  taking  a 
miniature  from  his  bosom. 

On  another  occasion,  calling  upon  him  on  some 
urgent  business,  I  was  invited  into  his  bedchamber. 
I  found  him  too  ill  to  sit  up.  The  curtains  in  front 
of  his  bed  were  open,  and  he  lay  with  his  head  some- 
what elevated  on  a  full  pillow.  Opposite  the  foot  of 
his  bed,  nearly  touching  the  post,  stood  a  little  table, 
and  on  it  was  the  miniature  of  Mrs.  Jackson  leaning 
against  a  small  Bible  and  a  prayer  book  which  had 
been  hers.  It  was  evidently  so  placed  that  he  might, 
as  he  lay,  gaze  upon  the  shadow  of  those  loved  fea- 
tures which  had  enraptured  his  youthful  heart  and 
contemplate  those  virtues  which  in  old  age,  even  in 
death,  rendered  them  dear  to  the  bosom  of  the  hero 
and  statesman  beyond  any  other  earthly  object. 

I  was  not  then  so  thoroughly  acquainted  with  Gen- 
eral Jackson  as  I  afterwards  became;  but  in  witnessing 
this  scene  I  said  to  myself:  "This  must  be  a  good 
man."  None  other  could  entertain  so  deep,  so  abiding 
an  afifection  for  a  departed  companion*  however  cher- 


164       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

ished  while  living.  Love  like  this  is  all  good,  all 
heavenly,  all  divine,  as  nearly  as  anything  on  earth 
possibly  can  be.  It  cannot  dwell  in  a  bad  heart;  it  can- 
not assimilate  with  a  perverted  mind. 

I  had  never  seen  Mrs.  Jackson,  but  from  that  mo- 
ment I  pronounced  her  a  superior  woman.  None  but 
a  woman  of  surpassing  virtues  could  so  fix  the  affec- 
tions of  such  a  man.  None  other  could  maintain  such 
a  hold  on  such  a  mind  amidst  the  enjoyment  of  glory, 
the  gratification  of  ambition,  the  cares  of  State,  and 
the  never-ceasing  excitements  sufficient  to  overpower 
and  swallow  up  the  kindly  affections  of  ordinary  men. 
None  other  could  occupy  in  life  and  in  death  so  broad 
a  space  in  the  remembrance  and  affections  of  one  who 
in  devotion  to  his  country  never  had  a  superior.  And 
I  could  not  but  regret  that  she  had  not  lived,  not  so 
much  to  enjoy  a  signal,  triumph  over  her  own  and  her 
husband's  traducers,  but  to  comfort,  advise,  and  sustain 
her  devoted  companion  in  the  midst  of  never-ceasing 
evils  and  vexations,  the  heartlessness  of  false  friends, 
and  the  assaults  of  unrelenting  enemies. 

History  has  not  been  as  kind  to  the  memory 
of  Mrs.  Jackson  as  might  be — in  fact,  very 
unkind — ^but  she  was  indeed  a  superior  woman, 
a  beautiful  housekeeper,  a  kind  mistress  to  her 
slaves,  an  affectionate  and  generous  sister,  a 
devoted  wife,  and  a  pious  Christian  woman. 
The  little  Hermitage  church  was  built  that  she 
might  have  Church  privileges. 

While  on  one  of  his  Eastern  trips  Andrew 


Brides  at  the  Hermitage.  165 

Jackson  purchased  for  her  a  piano,  on  which 
she  played  all  the  tunes  of  that  day,  *'Money 
Musk,"  *'Fisher*s  Hornpipe,"  and  others. 
One  of  their  favorite  evening  pastimes  was 
performing  duets  for  piano  and  flute,  she  play- 
ing sweetly  all  his  favorite  tunes  and  singing 
his  favorite  songs. 

It  was  a  home  where  love  sat  at  the  fire- 
side, presided  over  the  abundantly  provided 
board,  glowed  in  every  corner  of  the  dwelling, 
hovered  with  wings  of  peace  over  the  house- 
hold, and  dwelt  contentedly  in  the  hearts  of  its 
inmates. 

General  Jackson  mourned  his  wife's  death 
inconsolably,  and  this  is  the  tribute  he  paid 
her  memory : 

We  lived  together,  happy  husband,  loving  wife,  for 
nearly  forty  years.  In  all  those  many  years,  whenever 
I  entered  my  home  it  seemed  hallowed  by  a  divine 
presence.  I  never  heard  her  say  a  word  that  could 
sully  an  angel's  lips,  nor  knew  her  to  commit  an  act  her 
Maker  could  have  condemned.  What  I  have  accom- 
plished I  owe  to  her.  Had  I  always  taken  her  advice, 
deeds  I  now  regret  would  have  never  been  committed. 
She  made  earth  a  paradise  for  me.  Without  her  there 
could  be  no  heaven. 

The  romantic  vein  in  his  own  composition 


i66       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

made  Andrew  Jackson  sympathize  heartily 
with  the  loves  of  young  people,  and  the  Her- 
mitage became  the  Gretna  Green  of  more  than 
one  romantic  marriage.  One  of  the  most  ro- 
mantic affairs  he  was  ever  connected  with  oc- 
curred before  he  built  the  log  house  at  the 
Hermitage  and  while  he  was  still  a  resident 
at  Hunter's  Hill. 

Samuel  Donelson,  the  brother  of  Mrs.  Ra- 
chel Jackson,  was  the  law  partner  of  Andrew 
Jackson  and  was  a  gay,  dashing  young  fellow. 
He  fell  in  love  with  Mary  Smith,  the  only 
daughter  of  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  of  Revolu- 
tionary fame.  In  Sumner  County,  Tennessee, 
still  stands  a  comfortable  dwelling,  erected  in 
the  early  years  of  the  last  century,  called  Rock 
Castle,  built  entirely  of  stone,  in  which  General 
Smith  and  his  family  lived. 

Mary  Smith  was  a  piquant  beauty  and  had 
suitors  by  the  score;  but  none  pleased  her  as 
did  this  same  Samuel  Donelson,  but  he  did  not 
meet  with  her  father's  approval.  The  saucy 
lady  had  a  head  of  her  own  and  a  due  appre- 
ciation of  her  charms.  In  a  frolicsome  mood 
she  chose  the  family  Bible  in  which  to  pour 
out  her  thoughts  and  therein  inscribed: 


Brides  at  the  Hermitage.  167 

Mary  Ann  Mickey  is  my  name, 

And  happy  is  my  life. 
Happy  will  the  young  man  be 

Who  gets  me  for  his  wife. 

The  Bible  is  an  heirloom  in  the  family  now 
and  is  known  and  treasured  as  the  Mary  Smith 
Bible. 

Encountering  parental  opposition,  the  lover 
proposed  an  elopement,  which  at  once  appealed 
to  her  romantic  nature.  The  elopement  was 
planned,  and  the  day  arrived,  but  she  gave  no 
sign  of  the  approaching  event.  Her  listening 
ear  ever  and  anon  caught  the  sound  of  a  wood- 
man cutting  timbers  in  the  forest.  The  sound 
was  not  unusual  in  those  days,  and  she  alone 
of  all  the  household  knew  that  a  grapevine 
ladder  was  being  constructed  for  the  escapade 
that  night  and  that  the  future  President  of  the 
United  States  was  assisting  her  husband  that 
was  to  be. 

Night  came,  and  the  two  drew  near.  The 
watchdog  gave  a  sharp,  questioning  bark;  but 
as  the  dog  was  acquainted  with  both  visitors, 
a  pat  upon  the  head  converted  into  a  friend 
what  might  have  been  a  frustrating  enemy. 
The  window  of  the  fair  one  was  on  the  oppo- 


1 68       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

site  side  of  the  hallway  from  that  of  her  fa- 
ther, and  she  listened  to  his  deep,  stertorous 
breathing  before  she  gave  the  signal  for  her 
lover  to  advance. 

Stealthily  the  grapevine  ladder  was  thrust 
up  to  the  window.  Two  dainty  white  hands 
grasped  it  and,  with  the  ropes  already  attached, 
made  it  fast  within.  Unhesitatingly  she  clam- 
bered down  and  was  received  into  the  arms  of 
the  expectant  bridegroom.  The  latter  and  his 
friend  each  caught  her  by  the  hand,  helping 
her  over  rough  places  and  tangled  brush  until 
they  reached  the  spot  where  two  horses  and  a 
preacher  with  a  marriage  license  awaited  them. 
In  the  dim  light  of  the  rising  moon  the  two 
were  made  one,  wnth  Andrew  Jackson  for  a 
W'itness.  General  Jackson  w^as  often  heard  to 
aver  that  the  only  man  in  the  world  he  was 
afraid  of  was  General  Smith.  The  honeymoon 
was  spent  beneath  the  roof  of  Andrew  Jackson 
at  Hunter's  Hill. 

The  Gretna  Green  proclivity  has  clung  to 
the  posterity  of  Mary  Smith  through  four 
generations,  nearly  every  family  having  a  run- 
away marriage. 

After  moving  once  more  to  the  wilderness 


MRS.    RACHEL   JACKSON. 
(The  Miniature.) 


Brides  at  the  Hermitage,  169 

and  taking  possession- of  the  log  house  at  the 
Hermitage,  Andrew  Jackson  and  his  good  wife 
were  surprised  one  morning,  before  their  early 
breakfast  was  served,  by  the  arrival  of  Robert 
Armstrong  and  Miss  Margaret  Nichol,  daugh- 
ter of  Josiah  Nichol,  one  of  General  Jackson's 
best  friends.  The  parents  of  the  young  lady 
had  chosen  a  husband  for  her  other  than  the 
one  she  most  desired,  who  possessed  more 
money,  but,  in  her  opinion,  was  not  the  equal 
of  the  gallant  Robert  Armstrong.  They  had 
come  on  horseback,  brought  the  preacher  with 
them,  and  presented  themselves  to  be  married. 
Andrew  Jackson's  "God  bless  you,  my  chil- 
dren," carried  with  it  a  benediction,  for  the 
marriage  proved  a  most  happy  one.  The 
young  girl's  confidence  was  not  misplaced,  for 
her  husband  became  not  only  wealthy  but  dis- 
tinguished. A  long  line  of  prominent  citizens 
live  to-day  to  tell  the  romantic  story  of  the 
marriage  of  their  grandparents  at  the  Her- 
mitage. 

After  General  Jackson  built  the  large  brick 
mansion  General  Call,  one  of  his  favorite  staff 
officers  of  the  Florida  war,  stole  his  bride, 
Miss  Mary  Kirkman,  hastened  to  the  Hermit- 


i/o       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

age,  and  was  married  beneath  its  roof.  There 
were  no  automobiles  in  those  days.  The  surest 
and  swiftest  mode  of  travel  was  on  horseback, 
and  the  young  couple  that  morning  rode  two 
fine  horses  that  were  sure  and  swift.  General 
Jackson  gave  them  as  a  bridal  present  por- 
traits of  himself  and  wife  executed  by  Earl. 
The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Jackson  was  presented 
to  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  by  Mrs. 
Ellen  Call  Long,  Vice  Regent  for  Florida. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  General  Call  and  was 
herself  an  elderly  woman  at  the  time  the  As- 
sociation was  organized. 

When  Andrew  Jackson  went  to  Washington 
to  be  inaugurated,  his  adopted  son  was  just 
twenty-two  years  of  age.  He  was  one  of  the 
handsomest  men  in  all  the  country  and  of 
courtly,  polished  manners.  He  was  a  great 
favorite  in  Washington  society  and,  being  the 
son  of  the  President,  was  much  sought  after. 
While  visiting  Philadelphia  with  a  friend, 
Captain  McCauley,  of  the  United  States  army, 
he  met  one  day  the  most  beautiful  lady  he  had 
ever  seen.  The  young  lady  was  accompanied 
by  an  elder  lady,  and  both  knew  Captain  Mc- 
Caulev.     The  latter  raised  his  hat,  as  did  also 


Brides  at  the  Hermitage,  171 

the  young  Andrew  Jackson,  the  ladies  ac- 
knowledging the  salutation  with  a  bow.  As 
they  passed,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  turned  to 
look  back  for  another  glimpse  of  the  beauty. 
At  the  same  moment  she  too  turned,  and  a 
saucy,  piquant  face  flashed  a  smile  at  him. 
Both  had  fallen  in  love  at  first  sight.  Intro- 
ductions soon  followed,  and  the  young  Andrew 
Jackson  at  once  began  an  ardent  wooing  of 
the  beautiful  Miss  Sarah  Yorke.  An  engage- 
ment followed  and  in  a  short  time  a  marriage. 
The  adopted  son,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  took 
his  bride  to  the  White  House,  where  she  pre- 
sided as  lady  of  the  White  House  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  Jackson  administration,  Mrs. 
Emily  Donelson  occupying  that  exalted  posi- 
tion in  the  earlier  years  of  the  administration. 
Later  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  took  his  bride  to 
the  Hermitage.  The  President  sent  to  his 
prospective  daughter-in-law  a  cluster  pearl 
ring  with  a  lock  of  his  hair  beneath  the  set- 
ting, which  was  used  as  a  wedding  ring. 

This  lovely  young  woman  entwined  herself 
around  the  old  General's  heartstrings,  and  he 
loved  her  with  a  fervent  devotion.  Her  chil- 
dren filled  the  declining  years  of  the  old  hero's 


172        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

life  with  sunshine  and  happiness.  After  his 
return  to  the  Hermitage  from  the  two  admin- 
istrations, it  is  said  of  him :  "He  grew  so  quiet 
and  so  tender  that  one  never  heard  him  utter 
an  Singry  word  and  scarcely  ever  an  impatient 
one."  The  little  granddaughter  Rachel  was 
his  pet  and  fireside  companion,  and  upon  her 
he  showered  all  the  wealth  of  his  affection. 
This  granddaughter  still  lives  near  the  Hermit- 
age, and  her  reminiscences  of  ^'Grandpa"  are 
indeed  sweet. 

Not  until  this  little  Rachel  was  grown  to 
womanhood  was  there  another  bride  at  the 
Hermitage.  In  those  romantic  days  many 
suitors  had  paid  court  to  the  fair  Rachel ;  and 
in  time  she  married  Dr.  John  M.  Lawrence, 
who  was  a  most  worthy  mate  for  the  beautiful 
daughter  of  the  Hermitage.  The  wedding  was 
one  of  the  grandest  affairs  ever  witnessed  in 
this  part  of  the  countr}^  and  occurred  on  Jan- 
uary 25,  1853.  Great  preparations  were  made 
for  the  event,  new  furniture  for  the  bridal 
chamber  was  brought  from  Philadelphia,  and 
more  beautiful  articles  purchased  for  the  al- 
ready beautifully  furnished  house.    Prominent 


MRS.   W.   D.   BRADFIELD. 
i^Nee  Miss  Carrie  I^awrence.) 


Brides  at  the  Hermitage.  173 

citizens,  friends  from  all  over  the  State,  were 
invited,  and  the  house  was  filled  with  guests. 

The  auspicious  beginning  of  their  marriage 
was  but  an  earnest  of  the  long,  happy  years 
when  children,  little  olive  branches,  sprang  up 
around  their  table.  The  many  vicissitudes  that 
befell  the  Hermitage  did  not  affect  their  hap- 
piness; and  twenty-five  years  afterwards  the 
couple  celebrated  their  silver  wedding  in  the 
same  parlors,  with  the  same  surroundings, 
grown  sons  and  daughters  standing  by  their 
side. 

Time  leaps  forward,  and  the  bright-eyed 
tots  of  to-day  are  the  brides  of  to-morrow. 
Miss  Sazie  Lawrence,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence,  was  the  next  whose 
marriage  was  to  be  witnessed  by  the  long  mir- 
rors in  the  Hermitage  parlors.  Two  other 
daughters  were  married  in  the  city  and  were 
given  receptions  at  the  Hermitage.  Miss  An- 
nie Lawrence  married  Joshua  Smith,  and  Miss 
Marion  Lawrence  married  J.  Cleves  Symmes. 

The  last  daughter  of  the  household,  Miss 
Carrie  Lawrence,  was  married  to  Rev.  W.  D. 
Bradfield  in  the  parlors  of  the  Hermitage. 
Her  bridal  paraphernalia  was  that  worn  by 


174       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

her  grandmother,  Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke  Jackson, 
when  she  married  the  adopted  son  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1 83 1.  The  bridal  gown  was  an 
imported  French  embroidered  tissue  (chiffon 
we  would  call  it  now),  very  rich  and  elegant 
and  beautiful  even  now.  The  bridal  veil  was 
of  pointe  aplique  lace.  A  necklace,  bracelet, 
and  brooch  of  the  richest  cluster  pearls  were 
the  bridal  jewels. 

The  same  pearl  ring  sent  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  his  son's  bride  was 
worn  by  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson  Lawrence  when 
she  was  married  and  by  her  four  beautiful 
daughters,  and  it  was.  always  used  as  a  wed- 
ding ring.  The  entire  bridal  outfit  is  pre- 
served in  the  family  as  a  priceless  heirloom 
and  will  doubtless  be  worn  by  another  genera- 
tion of  brides. 

The  marriage  of  Miss  Carrie  Lawrence  in 
the  spring  of  1892  was  the  last  one  to  take 
place  at  the  old  Hermitage  of  any  member  of 
the  family  which  had  so  long  been  identified 
•with  the  place.  Even  then  it  was  under  the 
control  of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association. 

In  1885  Col.  Andrew  Jackson,  son  of  An- 
drew Jackson,  Jr.,  brought  his  bride  to  the  old 


Brides  at  the  Hermitage.  175 

homestead.  He  was  already  becoming  an 
elderly  bachelor  when  he  met  Miss  Amy  Rich, 
of  Hamilton,  Ohio.  He  was  soon  attracted 
by  her  brilliance,  her  vivacity,  and  her  beauty. 
He  laid  siege  to  her  heart  and  had  the  joy  of 
bringing  to  the  Hermitage  his  own  bride  ere 
he  should  surrender  possession  of  it  forever. 
They  had  two  fine  sons,  one  of  whom  bears 
the  name  of  Andrew  Jackson,  the  fourth  in 
line  of  the  name. 


CHAPTER  XII, 
The  Hermitage  Church. 

Hardly  less  historic  than  the  Hermitage 
itself  is  the  Hermitage  church,  built  by  General 
Jackson  upon  his  own  farm  in  1823.  Mrs. 
Rachel  Jackson  was  a  most  pious  Christian 
woman,  but  had  long  been  denied  Church 
privileges  with  any  degree  of  regularity. 

The  neighborhood  had  grown  populous,  and 
a  house  of  worship  was  needed.  As  soon  as 
this  was  built  it  wgs  incorporated  into  the 
Presbytery  of  Nashville  and  supplied  with  a 
minister.  The  leading  denomination  then  in 
Tennessee  was  the  Presbyterian,  and  it  was 
the  boast  of  many  of  the  citizens  of  that  day 
that  they  had  been  Presbyterians  for  more  than 
two  hundred  years. 

Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson's  grandmother,  the 
first  American  Mrs.  John  Donelson  (originally 
spelled  Donaldson),  was  a  sister  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Davies,  D.D.,  one  of  the  early  presi- 
dents of  Princeton  College.  Her  Presbyteri- 
anism  was  inherited  from  a  long  line  of  dis- 

(176) 


The  Hermitage  Church.  177 

tinguished  ancestors,  just  as  her  husband  had 
his  from  the  old  Scotch-Irish  ancestry. 

There  were  strong,  sturdy  Christians  in 
those  days,  who,  once  committed  to  Church 
membership,  would  not  for  worlds  be  guilty  of 
an  act  not  countenanced  by  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith.  They  were  stanch  and 
stolid  in  their  beliefs  and  had  a  faith  that  made 
devout  women  and  strong  men. 

General  Jackson  gave  the  ground  for  the 
church  edifice  on  his  own  farm,  then  headed 
a  subscription  list  with  his  own  name  and  in- 
vited his  neighbors  and  kinsmen  to  assist  in 
erecting  a  house  of  worship.  He  did  not  be- 
lieve in  committees,  he  said,  and  superintended 
the  work  himself. 

Shortly  after  the  church  was  built  Mrs. 
Jackson  became  a  communing  member  and 
urged  her  husband  to  do  the  same,  but  he 
pointed  out  to  her  that  if  he  did  so  then  he 
would  be  accused  of  taking  the  step  for  polit- 
ical effect;  but  he  promised  her  that  as  soon 
as  he  was  "out  of  politics"  he  would  join  the 
Church. 

The  building  is  fifty  feet  long  by  thirty  feet 
broad  and  is  substantially  built.  Four  win- 
12 


178       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

dows  were  originally  in  the  building  (one  on 
each  side  has  been  closed) ;  the  floor  was  of 
brick,  afterwards  covered  with  flooring,  except 
the  aisle,  which  is  still  of  brick.  Two  huge 
fireplaces,  one  at  each  end,  warmed  the  church 
to  a  comfortable  degree.  Later  a  change 
was  made  in  the  entrance.  One  fireplace 
was  closed  up,  and  the  pulpit  was  placed 
at  that  end.  The  pulpit  was  once  an  anti- 
quated box  affair,  shaped  like  a  half  hexagon, 
and  approached  by  a  short  stairway.  The 
pews  were  substantial  but  somewhat  heavy. 
A  door  of  entrance  was  made  on  each  side  of 
the  other  fireplace  afid  continues  there  to  this 
day.  Some  of  the  most  distinguished  Presby- 
terian divines  of  Tennessee  have  held  services 
in  the  Hermitage  church,  among  them  being 
Revs.  Dr.  Scott,  Carr,  Hume,  John  Todd  Ed- 
gar, J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  and  later  J.  W. 
Hoyte,  E.  D.  Finney,  and  others  of  a  still  later 
day. 

The  pastors  of  the  distant  city  Churches 
fostered  the  work  and  delighted  in  discoursing 
to  the  cultured  congregations  assembled  there 
to  hear  them.  As  long  as  Mrs.  Rachel  Jack- 
son lived  the  Church  flourished :  but  after  her 


The  Hermitage  Church.  179 

death  and  during  General  Jackson's  absence  in 
Washington  the  Church  languished  until  the 
family  returned  to  the  Hermitage  in  1837, 
when  it  was  reorganized  and  again  used  regu- 
larly. 

It  was  under  the  ministrations  of  Rev.  John 
Todd  Edgar,  D.D.,  then  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Nashville,  that  Gen- 
eral Jackson  made  public  profession  of  the 
faith  he  had  always  held  and  which  had  sus- 
tained him  through  many  a  trying  hour.  As 
soon  as  he  became  a  communing  Church  mem- 
ber he  was  elected  unanimously  a  ruling  elder, 
but  he  declined,  saying:  "No;  the  Bible  says, 
'B?e  not  hasty  in  laying  on  of  hands.'  I  am 
too  young  in  the  Church  for  such  an  office. 
My  countrymen  have  given  me  high  honors, 
but  I  should  esteem  the  office  of  ruling  elder 
in  the  Church  of  Christ  a  far  higher  honor 
than  any  I  have  ever  received." 

He  needed  no  argument  to  win  him  to  a 
belief  in  his  God;  for  he  had  always  had  a 
strong  and  abiding  faith,  the  foundation  stones 
of  which  were  laid  by  his  sturdy  mother  and 
had  rooted  and  grounded  his  beliefs.  But  with 
him  to  publicly  stand  up  before  the  man  of 


i8o       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

God  and  a  waiting  congregation  was  a  mo- 
ment of  due  solemnity  and  vast  import.  He 
was  fully  alive  to  the  obligations  and  the  defi- 
niteness  of  his  action. 

After  the  service  at  the  church  and  partici- 
pation for  the  first  time  in  the  holy  communion 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  he  returned  to  the  Her- 
mitage silent  and  full  of  thought.  His  son 
and  daughter,  Andrew  and  Sarah  Yorke  Jack- 
son, were  with  him,  but  scarcely  a  word  was 
spoken.  Reaching  his  own  front  door,  he 
took  his  daughter  by  the  arm,  conducted  her 
to  his  own  bedchamber,  then  knelt  and  poured 
out  his  soul  in  prayer.  This  man,  who  was 
so  gifted  in  oratory,  so  powerful  in  inspiring 
address,  so  magnetic  before  the  masses,  was 
not  abashed  when  talking  to  his  God.  His 
acquaintance  with  and  constant  reliance  upon 
the  God  of  his  mother,  the  God  of  his  wife, 
and  his  own  God  was  so  great  and  strong  that 
he  could  and  did  pray  often  in  the  inner  circle 
of  home  as  long  as  he  lived. 

From  that  hour  General  Jackson  was  a  con- 
stant attendant  at  church,  always  using  the 
same  pew,  which  is  now  marked  with  a  silver 
plate.     The  sermons  then  were  the  good  old 


7' he  Hermitage  Church,  i8i 


'& 


doctrinal  Calvinistic  discourses  once  so  cus- 
tomary and  acknoAvledged  as  the  orthodox 
quality  in  all  the  Churches,  and  the  songs  were 
those  grand  old  hymns  that  followed  the 
psalm-singing  of  the  earlier  Christian  Church 
and  that  even  now  hold  their  own,  a  perpetual 
classic  in  Church  hymnology — **How  firm  a 
foundation!"  "How  tedious  and  tasteless  the 
hours!"  "Come,  thou  Fount,"  "When  I  can 
read  my  title  clear,"  and  others  that  linger  in 
the  heart  and  well  up  in  the  memory  of  those 
who  have  ever  once  made  them  their  own. 

There  was  only  congregational  singing  in 
those  days.  Some  good  old  tuneful  brother 
would  "raise"  the  tune,  and  every  voice  would 
blend  in  the  harmony  of  the  religious  refrain 
and  feel  a  spiritual  comfort  as  it  rose  and  fell. 
The  communion  season  was  particularly  re- 
freshing and  soul-stirring.  There  in  that  little 
house  of  worship  a  solemn  hush  would  fall 
over  the  congregation,  broken  only  by  the 
words  of  the  preacher  as  he  read,  "This  do  in 
remembrance  of  me."  Outside  the  bright 
sunshine  and  balmy  air  would  all  seem  in  ac- 
cord; and  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  these  sea- 
sons the  souls  of  the  waiting  congregation 


i82       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

were  lifted  into  a  higher  atmosphere,  and  all 
would  drive  away  to  their  homes  more 
thoughtful,  more  subdued,  nearer  to  their  God. 

Even  the  children  were  impressed.  Chil- 
dren in  those  days  were  told  that  they  were  to 
be  "seen  and  not  heard,"  and  their  young  souls 
were  left  each  to  find  out  for  itself  the  mys- 
teries of  life.  Among  the  congregation  were 
two  little  girls,  aged,  respectively,  ten  and 
twelve  years,  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood 
and  were  brought  regularly  to  church  by  older 
sisters,  their  mother  being  dead.  Their  im- 
pressionable minds  had  imbibed  the  ideas  in- 
culcated at  the  church  and  delighted  in  the 
songs.  A  deep  religious  impression  pervaded 
their  souls. 

A  valued  old  slave  belonging  to  their  fa- 
ther, named  Uncle  Claiborne,  died  on  their 
plantation.  They  had  scarcely  heard  of  death, 
and  the  mysterious  awe  that  clung  around  it 
was  to  them  distressing.  They  were  mother- 
less children,  but  their  mother's  death  had 
faded  from  their  minds  even  if  they  were 
not  too  young  when  it  occurred  for  it  to 
impress  them.  Their  minds  were  filled  with 
the  superstitions  of  the  negroes;   and   many 


The  Hermitage  Church.  183 

of  their  ideas  had  been  gathered  from  the  old 
black  "mammy"  who  had  ministered  to  them 
and  nursed  them  and  from  the  little  ebony- 
hued  playmates  with  whom  they  were  thrown 
most  constantly. 

When  they  knew  that  Uncle  Claiborne  was 
dead  and  went  to  the  cabin,  none  forbidding, 
to  see  his  stiff,  stark  form,  sheet-covered,  they 
were  overwhelmed  with  a  nameless  dread,  a 
haunting  fear,  they  knew  not  of  what.  All 
day,  frightened  and  silent,  they  went  around 
the  house  and  yard  or  through  the  cabin  where 
the  dead  slave  lay.  No  one  noticed  the  chil- 
dren; and  if  they  questioned  their  elders,  they 
were  put  off  with  an  impatient  word  of  rebuke. 
Night  came  on,  and  with  it  their  fear  in- 
creased, but  all  unnoticed.  They  were  sent 
off  to  bed  in  a  distant  upper  chamber.  Sleep 
would  not  come  to  their  eyelids;  and  they 
clung  to  each  other,  not  daring  to  whisper 
what  they  felt,  but  clinging,  each  helpless, 
frightened  little  one,  to  the  other. 

Uncle  Claiborne  had  been  a  noted  negro 
with  his  race.  He  had  that  force  of  intellect 
sometimes  found  in  the  cabin  of  the  Southern 
slave  and  was  esteemed  by  his  master  and  re- 


184       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

spected  by  every  one  of  his  race.  That  night 
from  other  plantations  near  and  remote  the 
dusky  forms  began  to  come  from  ever}'  direc- 
tion, to  gather  at  the  humble  cabin  where  the 
mortal  remains  of  the  dead  slave  lay.  The 
children  could  hear  the  arrivals  and,  connect- 
ing the  sounds  of  footsteps  with  their  fears, 
grew  more  and  more  terror-stricken.  The 
night  was  intensely  still,  and  the  silence  was 
oppressive.  It  was  in  midsummer,  and  the 
summer  moon  cast  ghostly  shadows  in  the 
nursery  chamber.  Hours  had  perhaps  passed, 
and  the  little  girls  had  reached  the  tenseness 
of  suffering  and  fear  .that  was  almost  unen- 
durable. 

Suddenly  on  the  still  night  air  there  arose 
a  sound.  It  was  the  negroes  singing.  The 
musical  rhythm  and  cadence  of  their  voices, 
mingled  with  the  voice  of  the  katydid  and 
cricket,  rising  and  falling  in  the  still  night 
air,  the  words  of  the  song  reaching  the  ears 
of  the  little  listeners,  "How  firm  a  founda- 
tion, ye  saints  of  the  Lord!"  the  beautiful 
words  of  the  old,  old  song  sung  to  the  old 
familiar  tune,  quaint  and  plaintive,  sung  by 
negro  voices,  brought  comfort  and  peace  and 


The  Hermitage  Church.  185 

banished  all  fear.  Never  in  a  long  lifetime  did 
those  two  forget  the  feeling  of  relief  that  the 
grand  old  song  brought  to  their  souls.  Tears 
sprang  to  their  eyes,  and,  sobbing  but  comfort- 
ed and  clinging  to  each  other,  the  little  ones  fell 
asleep. 

One  of  the  characteristic  spectacles  at  the 
church  was  the  assembling  of  the  vehicles  on 
the   church    lawn.      The   congregation    came 
from  far  and  near  and  comprised  the  well-to- 
do    farmers    from    all    the    country    around. 
From  the  fact  that  the  leader  of  the  Church 
was   Mrs.   Emily  Donelson,   the  lady  of  the 
White  House,   and  one  of  its  members  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  great  elegance 
and  even  extravagance  was  displayed  in  the 
dress  of  the  congregation,  quite  unusual  with 
a  country  Church  at  that  time.     A  glance  at 
the  pew  of  General  Jackson  or  of  Maj.  Andrew 
J.  Donelson  aroused  in  the  bosoms  of  many 
admiration  and  possibly  the  envy  of  more  than 
one  who  worshiped  there. 

As  was  natural,  the  church  became  a  kind 
of  social  tryst;  and  after  the  congregation  was 
dismissed  the  people  lingered  to  discuss  af- 
fairs of  mutual  interest — ^the  crops,  the  latest 


1 86       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 
• 

news,  and,  it  must  be  admitted,  gossip.     To 

go  to  church  was  as  good  as  reading  a  weekly 

newspaper. 

Upon  one  occasion  a  distinguished  State 
geologist  visited  the  neighborhood  for  a  week's 
stay.  He  was  connected  by  marriage  with 
some  of  the  families ;  and  as  everybody  in  the 
neighborhood  was  more  or  less  connected 
either  by  blood  or  marriage  to  ever}'body  else, 
the  visitor  was  something  of  a  kinsman  to  the 
entire  neighborhood.  The  hospitality  of  that 
day  w^as :  **Come  early,  bring  your  knitting  or 
your  patchwork,  and  stay  all  day."  The  good 
doctor  was  invited  the  rounds,  one  day  at  the 
Hermitage,  one  day  at  Tulip  Grove,  one  day 
at  Clifton,  and  so  on.  He  was  a  whole-souled, 
genial  man,  happy  anywhere  and  under  any 
circumstances,  and  enjoyed  nothing  better  than 
his  occasional  visits  to  the  good  people  around 
General  Jackson's  home. 

The  Sunday  following  the  doctor's  visit  was 
a  fine,  bright  day,  very  conducive  to  piety,  and 
a  full  congregation  was  present  at  the  service. 
At  the  after  meeting  the  week's  guest  was  the 
prominent  subject  of  conversation.  The 
housewives  present  began,  as  housewives  will, 


The  Hermitage  Church.  187 

to  tell  what  each  one  gave  the  distinguished 
guest  for  dinner,  the  good  old-fashioned  noon- 
day meal. 

"What  did  you  have  for  dessert?" 

"The  nicest  fritters  I  ever  made." 

"La,  did  you  have  fritters  ?    So  did  I." 

"And  so  did  I." 

"And  so  did  I,"  chorused  each  hostess  in 
turn. 

Fritters!  Don't  you  know  what  they  are? 
Visit  the  Southland  and  ask  any  old  "Aunt 
Hannah"  to  make  some  for  you.  But,  after 
all,  the  good  doctor  was  very  fond  of  fritters, 
and  that  was  before  indigestion  was  invented. 

The  church  was  a  favorite  meeting  place 
for  the  beaux  and  belles,  and  many  a  match 
was  made  in  or  near  that  same  Hermitage 
church.  But  Church  purposes  were  not  all  for 
which  the  little  brick  church  was  used.  It 
also  ser\^ed  for  a  schoolhouse,  and  the  pastor 
was  sometimes  the  schoolmaster.  The  chil- 
dren in  the  community  were  sent  to  the  Her- 
mitage church  to  school.  The  curriculum  was 
very  ambitious,  and  the  pupils  were  given  Lat- 
in almost  simultaneously  with  the  old  blue- 
back   speller.      French    too   and    even    Greek 


1 88       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

were  conned.  The  boys  were  prepared  foi 
college  and  the  girls  fitted  for  the  finishing 
seminaries,  though  many  had  only  the  Her- 
mitage church  for  their  Alma  Mater.  There 
were  good  spellers  in  those  days,  none  better 
anywhere,  and  many  a  little  slip  of  a  girl  took 
the  head  of  her  spelling  class  early  in  the  ses- 
sion and  defied  the  foremost  scholars  in  the 
school  to  dislodge  her. 

Many  of  the  older  citizens  of  that  commu- 
nity cherished  to  their  dying  day  the  fondest 
and  brightest  recollections  of  their  school  days. 
A  gentle  elderly  lady,  one  of  the  most  earnest 
students  that  ever  attended  the  school,  had  the 
thought  of  it  so  interwoven  into  her  being  that 
through  a  long  life  ever  in  her  dreams  she  was 
again  and  again  at  the  Hermitage  church,  go- 
ing to  school  or  attending  church.  Then  the 
dream  would  change,  and  she  had  taken  up 
her  abode  there  and  was  living  in  it  as  a  dwell- 
ing. Memory  would  cling  around  the  old 
edifice  and  bring  back  the  forms  of  loved  ones 
who  had  gathered  with  her  there,  and  the  vi- 
sion would  be  most  sweet.  Dear  sisters  long 
since  gone,  girlhood  friends,  and  the  young 
boys  with  whom  she  associated  came  trooping 


The  Hermitage  Church.  189 

through  memory's  train,  and  she  lived  again 
in  the  past.  A  young  sister  had  died  in  her 
early  youth,  and  this  sister  was  ever  with  her. 

The  school  had  its  fun  and  its  frolics,  its 
hopes  and  ambitions,  its  scholars  and  its  dul- 
lards. AA  hen  a  new  teacher  made  his  advent 
in  the  neighborhood  the  pupils  were  very  anx- 
ious to  present  a  fine  appearance  and  impress 
him  with  the  extent  of  the  scholarly  attain- 
ments in  that  vicinity.  One  day  two  little  fel- 
lows brought  some  chestnuts  gathered  in  the 
near-by  forest.  The  new  teacher  asked :  "How 
do  they  sell,  my  little  man?"  *Ten  cents  a 
point"  was  the  reply. 

The  church  is  still  used  week  by  week  even 
to  this  day  and  maintains  a  regular  Church 
organization.  In  those  years  long  gone  by  the 
communion  service  was  a  silver  cup  and  a  sil- 
ver dish  from  the  Hermitage.  The  cup  is  a 
silver  tankard,  one  of  a  pair  made  in  London, 
and  is  beautifully  chased.  The  pair  were  pre- 
sented to  General  Jackson.  The  plate  is  one 
of  the  Martin  Van  Buren  dishes  purchased  by 
Jackson.  This  same  cup  and  plate  are  still  used 
and  are  brought  to  the  church  on  communion 
occasions  by  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson  Lawrence, 


190       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

who  lives  about  two  miles  distant.  Mrs.  Sarah 
Jackson  presented  a  table  of  solid  mahogany 
from  the  Hermitage  furnishings  for  a  com- 
munion table. 

At  the  same  time  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  As- 
sociation was  being  organized  ( 1889)  Mrs. 
W.  A.  (Bettie  M.)  Donelson  was  interesting 
herself  on  behalf  of  the  Hermitage  church. 
It,  like  the  rest  of  the  Hermitage  property,  was 
showing  the  marks  of  the  finger  of  time  and 
was  in  a  very  dilapidated  condition.  The  roof 
was  leaking,  the  plastering  fallen  in  a  great 
many  places,  several  window  panes  were  out, 
and  the  frame  was  rotting  away.  With  won- 
derful executive  ability  Mrs.  Donelson,  un- 
aided and  alone,  got  up  an  "Old  Folks  Con- 
cert," which  she  gave  at  the  Vendome  Theater 
in  Nashville.  There  were  many  participants, 
and  she  offered  as  a  prize  a  locket  made  of  the 
hair  of  General  and  Mrs.  Jackson  to  the  one 
selling  the  most  tickets.  Hundreds  of  tickets 
were  sold  and  nearly  every  seat  taken.  As  a 
net  result  she  had  five  hundred  dollars  for  her 
effort.  This  money  she  expended  on  the 
church  and  put  it  in  fine  condition.  Mrs.  Don- 
elson lives  in  the  Hermitage  neighborhood  and 


The  Hermitage  Church.  191 

is  a  constant  attendant,  member,  and  worker  in 
all  its  affairs.  She  is  a  daughter-in-law  of 
Maj.  Andrew  Jackson  Donelson,  private  sec- 
retary to  President  Andrew  Jackson. 

One  of  the  greatest  events  of  recent  years 
was  the  visit  of  Admiral  and  Mrs.  Schley  to 
the  Hermitage  when  they  visited  Nashville  in 
1902.  The  visit  was  made  on  Sunday,  the  only 
day  at  their  disposal,  and  services  were  held  in 
the  church.  It  was  one  of  the  coldest  days  of 
an  unusually  cold  winter,  but  many  braved  the 
weather  and  went  out  from  the  city  to  attend 
the  services  held  especially  for  the  occasion  in 
honor  of  the  distinguished  visitor.  Members 
of  the  Church  in  the  vicinity  decorated  the 
pulpit  and  Jackson's  pew  with  evergreens  from 
the  Hermitage  garden.  A  huge  log  fire  burned 
in  the  old-fashioned  fireplace  and  warmed  the 
church  comfortably.  There  is  a  cabinet  organ 
there,  and  a  city  choir  furnished  the  music. 
Admiral  Schley  was  seated  in  General  Jack- 
son's pew.  He  was  an  Episcopalian,  the  offici- 
ating minister,  Rev.  D.  C.  Kelley,  was  a  Meth- 
odist, and  the  Church  Presbyterian,  making  of 
it  an  interdenominational  service.  After  serv- 
ice in  the  church  the  party  and  guests  went  to 


192       preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

the  Hermitage,  lingered  there  several  hours, 
and  had  breakfast  served  ere  they  returned  to 
the  city. 

The  State  Legislature,  at  the  session  of 
1913,  conveyed  to  the  trustees  of  the  Hermit- 
age Church  living  in  the  neighborhood  two  or 
three  acres,  more  or  less,  surrounding  it,  and 
a  manse  for  the  pastor  has  been  built  in  the 
churchyard.  A  pastor  has  been  engaged, 
services  will  be  held  regularly,  and  the  historic 
church  will  continue  in  a  plane  of  usefulness. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Artist  at  the  Hermitage. 

An  interesting  person  at  the  Hermitage  in 
those  long  gone  by  years  was  Ralph  E.  W. 
Earl.  He  had  a  distinguished  lineage  and  was 
one  of  the  collateral  descendants  of  James 
Prime,  who  was  at  Mil  ford,  Conn.,  in  1644. 
The  name  and  family  of  Prime  are  of  Flem- 
ish origin,  and  a  descendant  of  the  Primes — 
viz.,  Ralph  E.  Prime — has  compiled  the  gene- 
alogy of  the  family  as  far  back  as  1638  and 
traces  it  down,  to  present  generations,  and 
from  this  line  of  descendants  we  learn  the 
genealogy  of  Ralph  E.  W.  Earl. 

His  grandfather,  Ralph  Earl,  was  born  No- 
vember 13,  1726,  at  Leicester,  Mass.  He  was 
a  patriot  and  served  as  captain  in  the  patriot 
army  in  the  Revolution.  He  had  the  distinc- 
tion of  having  offered  to  him  at  the  same  time 
a  commission  as  captain  in  each  army  and 
chose  the  patriot  commission.  His  father, 
Ralph  Earl,  was  born  May  11,  1757.  He  was 
an  artist  of  distinction,  a  pupil  of  Sir  Benja- 

13  (i93> 


194       Presentation  of  the  Hermitage. 

min  West,  and  painted  the  first  picture  of 
Niagara  Falls  ever  painted,  which  still  exists 
in  England.  He  also  painted  many  portraits 
of  the  nobility  and  some  of  the  royal  family 
of  England  and  portraits  of  many  prominent 
New  England  people.  He  was  also  a  soldier 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  His  mother  was 
Sarah  Gates  Earl.  They  had  four  children, 
of  whom  Ralph  E.  W.  Earl  was  the  third. 

Ralph  E.  W.  Earl  was  born  in  1788.  Tak- 
ing up  his  father's  profession  as  an  artist,  he 
made  a  distinguished  reputation  of  his  own. 
He  painted  many  pictures  of  distinguished  per- 
sons in  England,  Prance,  and  America.  He 
was  a  friend  of  General  Jackson  and  married 
Jane  Cafifrey,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson, 
and  thereafter  became  one  of  the  family  at 
the  Hermitage.  His  young  wife  lived  only  a 
few  months,  but  he  never  married  again  and 
continued  to  reside  at  the  Hermitage.  He  was 
given  the  room  immediately  above  General 
Jackson's  bedroom,  which  he  also  used  as  a 
studio. 

Earl  was  an  industrious  worker  and  left 
many  beautiful  specimens  of  his  handiwork. 
His  portraits  of  Jackson  are  so  fine  and  so 


I 

The  Artist  at  the  Hermitage.  195 

varied  in  style  and  position  as  to  make  a  not- 
able exhibit  all  to  themselves.  His  work  is 
excellent,  bearing  the  stamp  of  the  true  artist 
who  had  perfected  himself  in  his  profession. 
The  beautiful  portraits  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Jack- 
son, of  the  adopted  son  and  his  wife,  Mrs. 
Sarah  Yorke  Jackson,  and  of  little  Rachel  were 
all  his  work.  Portraits  of  prominent  people 
all  over  the  country  were  painted  by  him. 

He  went  with  General  Jackson  to  the  White 
House  and  was  dubbed  the  "court  painter"  or 
"portrait  painter  to  the  king."  After  return- 
ing with  General  Jackson  to  the  Hermitage,  he 
died  the  same  year,  September  16,  1837,  and  is 
buried  in  the  garden.  His  friend  and  patron 
marked  his  grave  with  a  stone  and  put  upon  it, 
in  addition  to  the  name  and  dates,  the  words, 
"Friend  and  companion  of  Gen.  Andrew  Jack- 
son." 

After  Earl's  death  all  of  his  possessions, 
souvenirs,  and  relics  were  returned  to  his  fam- 
ily connections  as  far  as  the  Hermitage  family 
were  able  to  collect  them.  But  in  the  collection 
of  Andrew  Jackson's  books  purchased  from 
his  heirs,  numbering  over  four  hundred  and 
fiftv  volumes,  is  one  volume  which  evidentiv 


196       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

at  one  time  was  the  property  of  Colonel  Earl. 
It  is  a  copy  of  Lord  Byron's  works,  and  in  the 
volume,  carefully  pasted  to  the  fly  leaf,  is  an 
autograph  letter  from  the  great  poet  himself. 
This  is  a  souvenir  evidently  picked  up  by  Colo- 
nel Earl  during  a  visit  to  or  residence  in  Paris. 
It  is  old  and  worn  and  torn,  but  is  thoroughly 
Byronic  in  character  and  very  interesting.  It 
is  as  follows: 

To  the  Editor  of  Galignani's  Messenger. 

Sir:  In  various  numbers  of  your  journal  I  have  seen 
mentioned  a  work  entitled  "The  Vampire"  with  the 
addition  of  my  name  as  that  of  author.  I  am  not  the 
author  and  never  heard^  of  the  work  in  question  until 
now.  In  a  more  recent  paper  I  perceive  a  formal  an- 
nunciation of  "The  Vampire,"  with  the  addition  of  an 
account  of  my  residence  in  the  Island  of  Mitylene,  an 
island  which  I  have  occasionally  sailed  by  in  the  course 
of  traveling  some  years  ago  through  the  Levant  and 
where  I  should  have  no  objection  to  reside,  but  where 
I  have  never  yet  resided.  Neither  of  these  perform- 
ances are  mine,  and  I  presume  that  it  is  neither  unjust 
nor  ungracious  to  request  that  you  will  favor  me  by 
contradicting  the  advertisement  to  which  I  allude.  If 
the  book  is  clever,  it  would  be  hard  to  deprive  the 
real  writer,  whoever  he  may  be,  of  his  honors;  and  if 
it  is  stupid,  I  desire  the  responsibility  of  nobody's 
dullness  but  my  own.  .  .  .  You  will  excuse  the 
trouble  I  give  you. 

The  imputation  is  of  no  great  importance,  and  as 
long  as  it  has  been  confined  to  surmises  and  reports  I 


The  Artist  at  the  Hermitage.  197 

should  have  received  it,  as  I  have  received  many  others, 
in  silence.  But  the  formality  of  a  public  advertisement 
of  a  book  I  never  wrote  and  a  residence  where  I  have 
never  resided  is  a  little  too  much,  particularly  as  I 
have  no  notion  of  the  contents  of  the  one  nor  the  inci- 
dents of  the  other. 

I  have  a  personal  dislike  to  vampires,  and  the  little 
acquaintance  I  have  with  them  would  by  no  means  in- 
duce me  to  divulge  their  secrets. 

You  did  me  a  much  less  injury  by  your  paragraph 
about  "my  devotion  and  abandonment  of  society  for 
the  sake  of  religion,"  which  appeared  in  your  Messen- 
ger  during  last  Lent,  all  of  which  are  not  founded  on 
fact ;  but  you  see  I  do  not  contradict  them  because  they 
are  merely  personal,  whereas  the  others,  in  some  degree, 
confuse  the  reader. 

You  will  oblige  me  by  complying  with  my  request 
for  contradiction.  I  assure  you  I  know  nothing  of  the 
work  or  works  in  question  and  have  the  honor  to  be 
(as  the  correspondents  to  magazines  say)  your  con- 
stant reader  and  very  obedient  humble  servant, 

Venice,  April  27,  1819.  Byron. 

Monsieur  Galignani, 

18  Rue  Viviene, 
(Parigi.)  Paris. 

The  room  the  artist  occupied  at  the  Hermit- 
age is  still  called  Earl's  room  and  is  now  simply 
furnished  with  a  colonial  bedstead,  dresser, 
wardrobe,  washstand,  straw  matting,  and  white 
muslin  curtains,  a  prevailing  summer  style  at 
the  Hermitage  while  Andrew  Jackson  lived. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Hermitage  Garden. 

When  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  built  the  man- 
sion for  his  wife  in  1819  he  set  apart  near 
its  eastern  doorway  an  acre  of  ground  for 
a  garden  to  supply  the  family  with  vegetables 
and  at  the  same  time  to  be  a  flower  garden. 
The  acre  plat  is  laid  off  in  four  regular 
squares  bisected  by  gravel  walks  some  six  or 
eight  feet  wide.  A  similar  walk  extends  en- 
tirely around  the  outer  edges  about  six  feet 
from  the  inclosing  fence.  In  the  center  of  the 
garden  where  the  main  walks  meet  is  an  art 
circle  for  flow^er  beds  laid  out  in  artistic  de- 
sign, v;ith  little  walkways  threading  between 
them.  All  the  walks  are  outlined  by  bricks 
made  for  the  purpose  when  the  house  was 
built.  They  are  one-half  longer  than  an  or- 
dinary brick  and  beveled  upon  the  upper  and 
projecting  edge. 

The  mistress  of  the  Hermitage  loved  her 
flowers;  and  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of 
her  devoted  husband  was  to  procure  for  her 

(198) 


The  Hermitage  Garden,  I99 

new  and  rare  plants,  which  he  did  when  serv- 
ing as  honorable  senator  in  Philadelphia.    The 
sweet  spring  blossoms  that  answer  to  the  first 
warm  kisses  of  the  early  sunshine  are  every- 
where abundant.     They  are  the  old-fashioned 
flowers  that  our  mothers  loved  and  that  are 
to  be  found  only  in  old-fashioned  gardens.    In 
all  the  long  years  since  they  were  planted  they 
have  grown  and  flourished  until  now  they  are 
huge  shrubs.    The  lilacs,  white  and  purple,  are 
large  bushes;  so  are  the  crape  myrtle  and  the 
snowballs,  and  they  flower  beautifully  in  the 
spring. 

Many  curious  plants  are  there  that  are  sel- 
dom grown  now,  but  their  beauty  ever  attracts 
attention  to  them.     The  dainty  white  fringe 
tree  droops  its  fragile  blossoms  at  the  garden 
gate,  and  one  flourishes  at  the  tomb  near  the 
head  of  Mrs.  Jackson.    The  smoke  tree,  with 
its  curious  blossoms,  stands  opposite  a  huge 
purple  magnolia,  the  first  harbinger  of  spring, 
with  its  sweetly  scented  blossoms.     The  fra- 
grant calacanthus  is  there,  and  the  woodbine 
and    honeysuckle    climb    over    trellises    near 
clumps  of  syringa  and  woo  the  honeybee  to 
sip  the  sweets  concealed  in  their  dainty  cups. 


200       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

All  the  shrubs  have  grown  and  flourished, 
undisturbed  in  the  long  years,  and  now  have 
luxurious  strength  and  fill  with  rich  perfume 
the  old  historic  garden. 

The  early  breath  of  spring  calls  from  their 
slumbering  beds  hyacinths,  lilies  of  the  valley, 
jonquils,  narcissi,  purple  shades,  and  the  violet- 
odored  bluebottles.  Among  the  first  of  the 
early  spring  blossoms  are  the  bluebells,  found 
growing  wild  on  the  bluffs  of  the  Cumberland. 
They  were  probably  among  the  first  of  nature^s 
beauties  to  find  their  way  to  the  garden.  The 
native  woodland  and  river  banks  also  fur- 
nished the  yucca,  which  thrives  in  many  places 
in  the  garden  and  outlines  the  walk  to  the 
springhouse,  and  which,  when  in  bloom,  pre- 
sents a  scene  of  great  beauty.  The  orange- 
colored  butterfly  plant,  or  sesclepias,  and  the 
beautiful  spirit  lily  also  come  from  the  native 
woodland.  In  the  early  spring  the  garden  is 
a  wilderness  of  bloom,  for  these  plants  have 
multiplied  to  a  vast  supply.  Peonies  planted 
long  years  ago,  white,  red,  and  pink,  flourish  all 
over  the  garden  and  have  grown  strong  roots, 
producing  a  wonderful  quantity  of  flowers.  In 
their  season  the  flowers  may  be  cut  by  the  wag- 


JACKSO^^  S    TOMB. 

President  Roosevelt  received  by  the  Regent,  Mrs.  Dorris,  and  the 
Ladies'  Hermitagfe  Association. 


The  Hermitage  Garden.  201 

onload,  and  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
has  turned  this  to  account  and  made  it  a  source 
of  revenue.  A  chairman  of  a  flower  committee 
is  appointed,  the  flowers  (a  wagonload)  sent 
to  the  city,  and  the  chairman  and  her  commit- 
tee stand  on  the  streets  and  sell  them  out, 
which  is  soon  done.  They  also  take  orders 
and  have  sold  many  hundred  dollars'  worth  of 
flow^ers.  The  old  fragrant  hundred-leafed  rose 
has  overnm  some  of  the  flower  beds  and  even 
thrust  its  sprouts,  trespassing,  into  the  gravel 
walks.  Along  on  the  fence,  supporting  them 
as  a  trellis,  are  many  climbing  rosebushes,  the 
fragrant  micrafilia  and  the  multiflora,  the  lat- 
ter in  clusters,  each  a  nosegay  all  to  itself. 
The  musk  cluster,  the  pink  cluster,  and  the  old- 
fashioned  daily  rose  that  never  fails  to  bloom 
all  the  year  round,  and  the  Louis  Philippe,  a 
brilliant  red  rose,  are  some  of  the  other  roses. 
Growing  by  the  hundreds  in  strong,  vigorous 
clumps  are  the  ascension  lilies,  filling  the  gar- 
den with  delicious  perfume  in  the  month  of 
June. 

The  poetic  side  of  life  was  then  in  the  as- 
cendancy, and  flowers  were  often  made  the 
means    of    conveying    the    tender    sentiment. 


202        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Every  flower  had  an  emblem  with  which  the 
young  people  were  acquainted.  Flowers  were 
then,  as  now,  sent  as  gifts,  but  always  from 
one's  own  garden.  Nothing  was  considered 
in  worse  taste  nor  a  surer  indication  of  ex- 
treme poverty  or  great  penuriousness  than  for 
one  to  think  of  selling  flowers.  This  was  some- 
thing for  the  aesthetic  taste  alone,  around 
which  no  commercial  idea  clung. 

Even  then  flowers  were  used  for  the  dead. 
When  the  widow  of  Lewis  Randolph  (who  was 
Miss  Elizabeth  Martin  and  was  married  at  the 
White  House  during  Jackson's  administration 
to  Lewis  Randolph,  'the  grandson  of  Thomas 
Jefferson)  lived  at  home  again  with  her  father, 
near  the  Hermitage,  she  lost  a  beautiful,  bright 
little  boy  just  four  years  old  named  Lewis  Jack- 
son Randolph.  It  was  in  the  early  summer, 
and  the  fragrant  white  ascension  lilies  were  in 
full  flower.  All  around  and  upon  the  little 
stilled  form  these  sweet  blossoms  were  placed. 
The  young  aunt,  a  girl  of  twelve  years,  loved 
the  little  fellow  tenderly  and  grieved  for  him 
with  all  a  child's  strength  of  affection.  She 
lived  to  be  an  elderly  woman;  but  she  never 
caught  the  odor  of  the  lilies  nor  saw  the  fair 


The  Hermitage  Garden.  203 

blossoms  but  that  the  memory  of  this,  her  first 
childish  grief,  came  back  to  her,  and  the  spirit 
of  the  child  was  with  her  again.  The  sweet 
musk  cluster  and  the  dainty  pink  cluster,  fra- 
grant little  things  that  they  are,  pinned  in  tiny 
sprays  all  over  the  winding  sheet  used  in  those 
days,  were  nature's  last  offering  to  the  dead. 

When  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson  died  at  the  Her- 
mitage it  was  in  the  beautiful  garden  that  her 
grave  was  made,  in  the  corner  nearest  the  ris- 
ing sun.  Her  sad  death  will  be  remembered 
as  occurring  very  suddenly  of  heart  failure 
on  the  eve  of  the  departure  of  her  distin- 
guished husband  for  his  inauguration  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  The  grave  planted 
there  in  the  chill  of  a  midwinter  day,  forlorn 
and  desolate,  was  ever  a  sacred  place  to  her 
bereaved  husband.  His  last  act  before  leaving 
for  Washington  was  to  plant  four  willows, 
something  that  would  grow,  about  her  last 
resting  place.  He  never  lost  interest  in  the 
garden  nor  the  willows  in  all  his  long  absence 
from  the  Hermitage. 

May  19,  1832,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Mrs. 
Sarah  Yorke  Jackson,  his  daughter-in-law, 
from  which  the  following  is  an  extract : 


204        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

I  sincerely  regret  the  ravages  made  by  the  frost  in 
the  garden,  and  particularly  that  the  willow  at  the  gate 
is  destroyed.  This  I  wish  you  to  replace.  The  wil- 
lows around  the  tomb  I  hope  are  living,  and  a  branch 
from  one  of  these  might  replace  the  dead  one  at  the 
garden  gate.  It  will  grow  if  well  watered  and  planted 
on  receipt  of  this. 

When  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  sold  the  Her- 
mitage to  the  State  of  Tennessee  he  reserved 
a  plat  of  one-fourth  of  an  acre  as  a  burial 
ground  for  himself  and  family.  He  and  his 
wife  are  buried  in  the  plat  near  the  tomb,  and 
there  are  several  other  famil}^  graves.  The 
tomb  of  General  Jackson  and  his  wife  is  in- 
closed by  an  iron  railing. 

A  mysterious  effort  was  made  to  rob  the 
tomb  of  General  Jackson  in  the  summer  of 
1894.  An  old  man  and  his  family  had  been 
installed  in  the  Hermitage  as  custodians.  One 
day  in  August  a  strange  dark  man  appeared 
at  the  Hermitage,  was  shown  over  the  house, 
visited  the  tomb  in  the  garden,  and  talked  for 
a  long  time  with  Uncle  Alfred.  He  seemed 
in  no  hurry  to  leave  and  apparently  took  an 
unusual  interest  in  the  place.  He  questioned 
closely  about  the  family,  inquired  into  the 
family  life,  discussed  the  family  histon^  and 


The  Hermitage  Garden.  205 

was  deeply  interested  in  the  tomb.  He  left 
about  midday  and,  as  was  afterwards  discov- 
ered, went  to  the  little  country  store  on  the 
Lebanon  road  and  procured  a  lunch.  In  the 
afternoon  he  returned,  which  was  very  un- 
usual, for  visitors  generally  took  the  train  in 
time  to  reach  the  city  before  nightfall.  Twi- 
light found  the  man  still  on  the  premises. 
The  custodian  and  his  family  became  suspi- 
cious and  uneasy,  causing  them  to  use  extra 
precautions  in  closing  doors  and  windows  that 
night.  To  their  relief,  when  they  had  about 
decided  to  order  him  off,  the  man  took  his 
departure,  and  they  never  expected  to  see  or 
hear  of  him  again. 

The  next  morning  when  the  old  man,  as 
was  his  custom,  went  into  the  garden,  he  was 
horrified  to  discover  that  a  large  hole  fully  six 
feet  in  diameter  had  been  dug  on  the  west 
side  of  the  tomb,  extending  dow^n  to  the  solid 
masonry  of  the  foundation.  It  was  in  August, 
and  there  had  been  a  long  and  distressing 
drought.  The  ground  was  hard  and  baked, 
making  excavation  no  easy  matter.  When  the 
vault  was  reached,  a  solid  block  of  old-time, 
honest   masonry   protected   tlie  bones   of   the 


2o6        Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

great  man  and  his  wife  within  the  tomb. 
Nothing  short  of  dynamite  would  have  had 
the  sHghtest  effect  upon  it.  These  conditions 
and  the  early  coming  of  dawn  prevented  what 
might  have  been  the  demohtion  of  Jackson's 
tomb  and  the  theft  of  his  bones  from  the 
strong  vault  which  had  so  long  held  his  per- 
ishing dust. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  discover  the  iden- 
tity of  the  perpetrator.  It  was  undoubtedly 
the  strange  dark  man  who  had  lingered  there 
so  long;  but  who  was  he,  and  where  had  he 
gone?  Mrs.  Baxter  and  the  Secretary  went 
immediately  to  the '  Hermitage  and  endeav- 
ored to  find  out  the  perpetrator,  consulting 
the  most  famous  detective  of  the  city;  but 
there  was  absolutely  no  clew  beyond  the  facts 
already  noted.  There  had  been  no  actual  dam- 
age that  was  not  easily  repaired ;  and  as  the 
Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  had  no  money 
to  waste  on  useless  inquiry,  the  mystery  was 
left  unsolved. 

Two  other  facts  developed.  An  iron  fence 
surrounds  the  tomb,  and  the  gate  is  kept 
locked,  but  the  fence  is  not  so  high  that  a  man 
cannot  easilv  vault  over  it.     The  more  readily 


The  Hermitage  Garden,  207 

to  get  within  the  inclosure,  the  marauder  had 
used  a  plank  from  the  near-by  fence  to  aid 
him  in  chmbing  over.  The  entire  neighbor- 
hood was  deeply  interested.  It  further  devel- 
oped that  from  the  nearest  neighbor  the  mys- 
terious stranger  had  the  day  before  borrowed 
a  spade,  which  he  had  punctiliously  returned 
by  leaving  it  within  the  yard  inclosure,  not 
waiting  to  say  *'Good  morning^'  or  even 
"Thank  you."  The  spade,  when  loaned,  was 
dull  and  rusty  from  disuse  and  was  bright  and 
shiny  when  returned,  giving  evidence  of  its 
contact  with  the  hard,  dry  earth. 

The  sequel  ?  Well,  it  came  in  a  strange  and 
incidental  way.  Some  months  after  the  occur- 
rence a  correspondent  from  New  York  City, 
writing  to  an  enterprising  Cincinnati  paper, 
told  of  a  man  who  had  just  died  in  a  hospital 
in  New  York.  He  was  an  Italian,  and  his 
name  was  Torrianni.  His  profession  was  that 
of  a  resurrectionist.  Before  his  death  he 
talked  of  his  work  and  seemed  to  take  a  pride 
in  his  successes.  He  confessed  that  it  was  he 
v;ho  had  stolen  the  body  of  the  father  of 
President  Harrison,  who  died  just  before  his 
son  became  President.     The  rabberv  was  dis- 


2o8       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

covered  immediately  and  the  body  found  in  a 
medical  college  and  reinterred.  The  act  caused 
a  wave  of  indignation  to  sweep  over  the  coun- 
try. Further  than  this,  and  what  more  nearly 
concerned  the  Ladies'  Hennitage  Association, 
the  man  also  confessed  that  it  was  he  who 
made  the  attempt  upon  the  tomb  of  Andrew 
Jackson  in  the  summer  of  1894. 

When  the  retiring  President  was  again  in 
his  home  at  the  Hermitage,  the  family  of  his 
adopted  son  were  the  joy  and  solace  of  his  life. 
Particularly  was  he  fond  of  little  Rachel,  the 
namesake  of  his  dear  wife.  She  was  his  con- 
stant companion  rn  his  rides  around  the  farm, 
at  his  fireside,  and  in  his  walks  about  the  place. 
He  had  a  habit  which  he  indulged  in  tv^ry 
evening  at  twilight.  His  footsteps  would  turn 
to  the  garden;  and  little  Rachel  would  drop 
"grandpa's"  hand,  for  she  had  learned  that  he 
desired  to  be  alone.  Oi>ening  the  gate,  with 
bowed  head  and  bent  foi*m,  his  stick  striking 
upon  the  graveled  walk,  mingled  with  the 
mournful  cadences  of  the  katydids,  the  old 
hero  turned  his  footsteps  to  the  tomb.  There 
in  the  silence  of  the  deepening  twilight  he 
communed  with  his  God  while  the  spirit  of  the 


The  Hermitage  Garden,  209 

gentle  Rachel  hovered  near.  The  tomb  had 
long  been  built  under  General  Jackson's  own 
supervision,  and  upon  the  slab  had  been  put  the 
beautiful  inscription,  the  beauty  and  tenderness 
of  which  strike  every  one  who  reads  it.    It  is : 

Here  lie  the  remains  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson, 
wife  of  President  Jackson,  who  died  the  22d  of 
December,  1828,  aged  sixty-one  years.    Her  face 
was  fair,  her  person  pleasing,  her  temper  amia- 
ble, her  heart  kind.     She  delighted  in  relieving 
the  wants  of  her  fellow  creatures  and  cultivated 
that  divine  pleasure  by  the  most  liberal  and  un- 
pretending methods.   To  the  poor  she  was  a  ben- 
efactor; to  the  rich  an  example;  to  the  wretch- 
ed a  comforter;  to  the  prosperous  an  ornament. 
Her  piety  went  hand  in  hand  with  her  benevo- 
lence, and  she  thanked  her  Creator  for  being 
permitted  to  do  good.    A  being  so  gentle  and 
so  virtuous  slander  might  wound,  but  could  not 
dishonor;  even  death,  when  he  bore  her  from 
the  arms  of  her  husband,  could  but  transport 
her  to  the  bosom  of  her  God. 

When  General  Jackson  died,  he  was  placed 
by  the  side  of  his  wife,  and  upon  the  slab  are 
the  simple  words : 

General  Andrew  Jackson. 
Born  March  15,  1767. 
Died  June  8,  1845. 
14 


2IO       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

All  his  brilliant  career,  all  his  glorious  re- 
nown are  left  to  the  historian  and  to  live  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen. 

To-day  the  home  of  Andrew  Jackson  is  as  it 
was  in  the  days  wlien  he  and  his  beloved  Rachel 
welcomed  all  with  cordial  hospitality.  The  old 
homestead  is  so  filled  with  sweet  memories  of 
their  devoted  love,  of  the  after  happy  life,  when 
loving  son  and  daughter  ministered  to  his 
heart's  longing  and  prattling  babes  grew  up 
around  him,  that  the  visitor  cannot  fail  to  be 
impressed  with  the  tender,  loving  side  of  the 
brave  warrior  as  well  as  feel  a  pride  in  his 
heroic  achievements.  As  one  passes  down  the 
flower-bordered  walks  of  the  garden  the  sweet, 
fragrant  blossoms  seem  to  speak  in  their 
quaint  poetic  language  of  those  who  dwelt 
there  in  the  long  ago.  In  reverence  one  pauses 
and  gazes  in  silence  on  their  tomb.  Sweetly 
and  peacefully  they  lie  sleeping  there  within 
the  shadow  of  the  home  they  loved  so  well, 
and  the  soughing  winds  sing  an  everlasting  re- 
quiem over  their  last  resting  place. 


APPENfDIX. 


APPENDIX. 

Some  years  ago  it  occurred  to  the  writer  that 
the  time  would  come  when  the  history  of  the 
founding  of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Associa- 
tion would  be  written  and  that  it  would  add 
to  the  interest  of  this  history  and  annals  to 
have  the  testimony  of  some  who  were  closely 
connected  with  the  work  in  its  formative  days. 
The  following  statements  are  taken  from  the 
minute  book,  in  which  they  are  written  by  the 
persons  whose  names  are  signed.  The  first  one 
is  from  Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter  herself  and  is 
as  follows: 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  was  first  asked  to  become 
the  Regent  of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  by 
Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris  in  1889. 

May  18,  1897.         Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter,  Regent 

At  the  solicitation  of  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris  I  was  the 
first  one  to  sign  the  charter  of  organization  of  the 
Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  in  the  spring  of  1889. 

June  20,  1906.  Rachel  Jackson  Lawrence. 

In  the  spring  of  1889  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris  came  to 
see  me  one  night  and  asked  me  to  sign  the  charter  of 
the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association.  I  did  so,  becoming 
a  charter  member  at  her  request. 

June  20,  1906.  Mrs.  Mary  Hadley  Clare. 

(213) 


214       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

This  is  to  certify  that  in  April,  i8^,  shortly  after 
the  act  conveying  the  Hermitage  house  and  tomb  and 
twenty-five  acres  to  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Associa- 
tion, and  in  accordance  with  said  act,  authorizing  the 
appointment  of  nine  trustees  for  the  State,  Mr.  and 
Mrs,  D.  R.  Dorris  came  to  my  office  to  secure  the  ap- 
pointment of  said  trustees.  Mrs.  Dorris,  as  an  officer 
of  the  Association,  had  a  list  of  names  which  she  rec- 
ommended, all  of  whom  were  appointed,  Mr.  Adolph 
S.  Ochs  being  my  selection,  the  others  being  selected 
and  named  by  Mrs.  Dorris. 

Robert  L.  Taylor,  Governor.    , 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mrs.  Dorris  I  presided  over 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Hermitage  Association.  To  her 
untiring  efforts  is  largely,  due  the  success  of  the  praise- 
worthy effort  of  the  Association  to  rescue  the  home  of 
the  immortal  Jackson  from  the  hands  of  strangers  and 
to  dedicate  it  to  the  memorj'  of  his  great  achievements 
in  the  field  and  forum.  T.  A.  Atchison. 

Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris  has  just  called  to  ask  my 
signature,  which  I  give  cheerfully.  She  has  been  a 
hard  and  earnest  worker  in  the  Ladies'  Hermitage 
Association  from  its  first  conception,  and  to  her  it  owes 
much  of  its  success.    I  signed  the  charter  at  her  request. 

July  I,  1910.  Mary  G.  Heiss. 

In  January  or  Februar>',  1889,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris 
brought  me  the  charter  of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Asso- 
ciation, which  I  signed  in  her  presence,  mine  being  the 
fifth  signature.  Louise  G.  Lindsley. 

November  16,  1910. 


Appendix.  215 

For   several   years   after   moving   to   Nashville   my 
husband,  Robert  B.  Currey.  and  I  lived  with  his  mother 
at  our  old  home,  at  the  corner  of  Church  and  Spruce 
Streets.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dorris  and  their  children  also 
lived  there.     One  day  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Jackson  drove 
in  from  the  Hennitage  to  make  Mrs.   Dorris  a  visit 
They  came  to  ask  her  advice  and  interest  her  in  the 
preservation  of  the  Hermitage.     She  grasped  the  idea 
at  once,  becoming  enthusiastic,  and  from  that  time  on 
she  was  untiring  in  her  devotion  to  the  work.     There 
was  a  great  deal  to  be  done,  a  great  many  people  to  be 
seen.    Day  after  day  she  spent  at  the  Capitol  trying  to 
get  the  Legislature  to  authorize  a  memorial  associa- 
tion  and   give   them   control   of   the   property.     Often 
Colonel   and   Mrs.   Jackson  would   come   in   from   the 
Hermitage    and    hold   a   long   consultation   with    Mrs. 
Dorris.     Sometimes  Mr.  Alex  Donelson  made  one  of 
the  party,  and  it  was  he  who  went  with  Mrs.  Dorris 
to  procure  a  charter  for  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Asso- 
ciation.   All  the  work  of  founding  the  Ladies'  Hermit- 
age Association  was  done  in  our  old  home,  at  the  corner 
of  Church  and  Spruce  Streets,  and  I  remember  these 
meetings  distinctly,  but  Colonel  and  Mr.  Jackson,  Mrs. 
Dorris,  and  Mr.  Alex  Donelson  were  the  only  ones  then 
interested.    Others  of  our  family  would  occasionally  be 
with  them  and  hear  them  discuss  the  organization  and 
knew  every  step  that  was  taken. 

In  fact,  so  much  of  Mrs.  Dorris's  time,  talent,  and 
energies  were  taken  up  that  her  brother  (my  husband) 
and  her  mother  complained  that  she  was  neglecting  her 
own  interests  for  the  Hermitage  work.  Once  when 
Mrs.  Jackson  was  present  Mrs.  Dorris's  mother  spoke 
of  her  devoting  so  much  of  her  time  to  the  Ladies' 
Hermitage   Association.     Mrs.    Jackson    said:    "Hush, 


2i6       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

woman!  She  is  making  history.  The  day  will  come 
when  her  family  will  be  proud  of  the  work  she  has 
done." 

In  1890  I  spent  a  delightful  summer  with  Colonel 
and  Mrs.  Jackson  at  the  Hermitage.  The  Association 
was  still  in  its  infancy.  Mrs.  Baxter  was  Regent,  and 
Mrs.  Dorris  was  Secretary'.  i\lrs.  Jackson  and  I  were 
constantly  thrown  together,  and  our  talks  often  turned 
to  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association,  Mrs.  Jackson 
predicting  that  it  would  be  a  great  success.  I  often 
heard  her  say:  'Tt  was  an  inspiration  when  Colonel 
thought  of  Mary  Dorris,  and  from  the  day  we  saw  her 
and  she  took  hold  of  the  idea  I  knew  it  would  succeed." 
From  that  day  to  this  her  interest  has  never  flagged. 

May  4,  1913.  Mrs.  Robert  B.  Currey. 

It  is  a  privilege  to  say  a  word  for  Mrs.  Dorris  and 
for  her  book,  a  work  whith  has  been  to  her  a  labor  of 
love  and  of  patriotic  interest.  The  long  years  of  beau- 
tiful service  she  has  given  to  the  upbuilding  of  the 
Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  and  her  unswerving  de- 
votion to  it  deserve  the  commendation  of  the  whole 
country;  for  the  Hermitage  is  not  a  local  interest,  but 
is  one  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  whole  American  peo- 
ple. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  have  the  honor  of  being  in- 
strumental in  raising  the  first  funds  for  this  notable 
work,  and  my  chance  came  to  me  through  Mrs.  Dorris. 
I  had  written,  however  crudely,  my  first  production,  or 
attempted  production,  for  the  stage,  the  production  tak- 
ing the  form  of  a  little  operetta  for  young  people, 
"Birds  of  Tennessee."  One  morning  I  confided  to  Mrs. 
Dorris  this  attempt  on  my  part  and  ran  over  the  libretto 
to  her.     She  said:  "Why,  that's  good!     Let's  give  it 


Appendix.  217 

for  the  benefit  of  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association." 
We  did.  With  her  help  the  work  was  put  before  the 
public  and  produced  at  the  Vendome  Theater  for  two 
or  three  evenings  and  made  quite  a  pleasing  little  hit. 
Some  of  the  best  and  most  gifted  of  Nashville's  young 
people  came  to  our  help.  There  wasn't  a  line  of  music 
written,  but  the  airs  were  my  own.  I  hummed  them 
over  to  the  leader  of  the  orchestra,  who  caught  them 
and  arranged  them  for  the  other  members,  and  in  this 
crude  fashion  the  singing  parts  were  put  together. 
Justin  Thatcher,  the  sweet  singer  of  Nashville,  was  one 
of  those  who  helped  us;  and  Robert  Nichol  was  our 
mocking  bird  and  was,  of  course,  the  leading  figure 
in  a  carnival  composed  entirely  of  the  song  birds  of 
Tennessee.  Billy  Porter  and  the  late  Ed  Stahlman  were 
also  in  the  caste,  Mr.  Porter  being  a  blackbird  and  Mr. 
Stahlman  as  good  an  owl  as  ever  adorned  the  night 
Tom  Norton  was  our  jaybird  and,  as  "the  stylish  Mr. 
Jay,"  was  one  of  the  real  successes  of  the  play.  Mr. 
Norton  also  sang  without  music  and  learned  the  air  of 
his  song  from  having  it  hummed  over  to  him.  He  aUo 
sang  it  in  Franklin,  when  the  play  was  produced  there, 
and  again  made  a  great  hit. 

On  the  last  occasion  the  play  was  shown  in  Nash- 
ville the  late  distinguished  and  beloved  Dr.  J.  Berrien 
Lindsley  arose  in  the  audience  and  said  some  very 
pleasant  things  of  the  play,  the  people  in  the  play,  and 
of  the  author.  In  the  name  of  the  Ladies*  Hermitage 
Association  he  thanked  all  parties  connected  with  it. 
These  are  very  pleasing  things  to  remember;  and  for 
this  pleasure  the  author  of  that  crude  little  play  is  in- 
debted to  Mrs.  Dorris,  whose  book,  "Preservation  of 
the  Hermitage,"  now  appears, . 


2i8       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, 

Mrs.  Dorris  should  have  a  large  and  whole-hearted 
audience,  and  her  work  should  appeal  both  to  the  inter- 
est and  affection  of  the  people  of  Tennesese.  A  hard 
and  sincere  toiler  among  the  women  of  her  State,  she 
has  not  hesitated  to  grapple  with  the  problem  of  meet- 
ing life  alone  and  fighting  her  way,  a  soldier's  sword  in 
one  hand  and  a  woman's  pen  in  the  other.  She  has 
kept  fair  and  beautiful  her  gracious  gift  of  womanhood 
and  has  been  a  ready  and  appreciative  listener  to  other 
women  toiling  along  the  same  rough  road  her  own  feet 
have  followed.  Through  all  hardships  and  struggles  and 
doubts  and  adversities  she  has  not  failed  to  keep  the 
lamp  of  love  aglow  in  her  forehead,  as  beautiful  as  a 
star  upon  a  rugged  night  at  sea.  A  glad  coworker  in 
all  that  pertains  to  the  welfare  of  her  sex,  her  State, 
and  her  country,  she  has  been  an  inspiration  to  many 
women. 

The  public  owes  a  good  deal  to  Mrs.  Dorris.  A 
cordial  reception  on  the  part  of  the  public  is  due  her 
story,  "Preservation  of  the  Hermitage,"  and  the  Ladies' 
Hermitage  Association,  which  has  accomplished  the  real 
work  of  rescuing  from  oblivion  or  worse  than  oblivion 
the  most  notable  building  of  the  State,  the  home  of  the 
most  noted  man  Tennessee  ever  produced.  For,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association,  the 
historic  homestead  would  without  a  doubt  long  ago 
have  suffered  the  fate  of  other  notable  landmarks  of 
Nashville.  As  a  pioneer  in  this  great  work  Mrs.  Dorris 
is  entitled  to  a  royal  reception  for  her  book.  It  is  a 
privilege  to  speak  for  it.         Will  Allen  Dromgoole. 

February  lo,  1915. 


Appendix.  219 

The  following  directors  have  had  control  of 
the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  since  its  or- 
ganization : 

Elected  May  15,  1889.— Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter,  Re- 
gent; Mrs.  A.  S.  Colyar,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  J.  M. 
Dickinson,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris, 
Secretary ;  L.  F.  Benson,  Treasurer ;  Mrs.  William  Mor- 
row, Mrs.  John  Ruhm,  Mrs.  Bettie  M.  Donelson. 

Elected  May  so,  189 1.— Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter,  Re- 
gent; Mrs.  Albert  S.  Marks,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs. 
J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary 
C.  Dorris,  Secretary;  Dr.  William  Morrow,  Treasurer; 
Mrs.  William  Morrow,  Mrs.  John  Ruhm,  Mrs.  Bettie 
M.  Donelson,  Mrs.  John  C.  Gaut,  Mrs.  Maggie  L.  Hicks. 

Elected  June  7,  i^pj.— Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter,  Regent ; 
Mrs.  Albert  S.  Marks,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  J. 
Berrien  Lindsley,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mr.  Edgar 
Jones,  Treasurer ;  Mrs.  John  Ruhm,  Auditor ;  Mrs.  John 
C.  Gaut,  Mrs.  Bettie  M.  Donelson,  Mrs.  Isabel  M.  Clark, 
Mrs.  J.  M.  Dickinson. 

Elected  October  30,  i895.—Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter, 
Regent;  Mrs.  Albert  S.  Marks,  Acting  Regent;  Mrs.  J. 
Berrien  Lindsley,  Secorid  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C. 
Dorris,  Secretary ;  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove,  Treasurer ;  Mrs. 
John  Ruhm,  Auditor;  Mrs.  Hugh  Craighead,  Mrs.  Bet- 
tie M.  Donelson,  Mrs.  John  C.  Gaut,  Mrs.  Isabel  Clark. 

Elected  May  19,  1^97.— Mrs.  Mary  L.  Baxter,  Re- 
gent; Mrs.  Albert  S.  Marks,  Acting  Regent;  Mrs.  J. 
Berrien  Lindsley,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C 
Dorris,  Secretary;  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove,  Treasurer; 
Mrs.  R.  G.  Thome,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Dickinson,  Mrs.  M.  S. 
Cockrill,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook,  Mrs.  John  C.  Gaut. 

Elected  May   17,   i^pp.— Mrs.   J.   Berrien   Lindsley, 


220       Preservation  of  the  Hermitage. 

Regent;  Mrs.  J.  M.  Dickinson,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs. 
Eugene  C.  Lewis,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C. 
Dorris,  Secretary;  Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook,  Treasurer;  Mrs. 
R,  G.  Thorne,  Mrs.  M.  S.  Cockrill,  Mrs.  John  C.  Gaut, 
Mrs.  J.  C.  Buntin. 

Elected  May  15,  /po/.— Mrs.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley,  Re* 
gent;  Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  M.  S. 
Cockrill,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris, 
Secretarj' ;  Mrs.  J.  Walter  Allen,  Treasurer;  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam J.  McMurray,  Mrs.  Thomas  M.  Steger,  Mrs.  John 
C.  Gaut,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Buntin. 

Elected  May  13,  Jpoj.— Mrs.  J.  Berrien  Lindsley, 
Regent;  Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs. 
M.  S.  Cockrill,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C 
Dorris,  Secretary;  Mrs.  J.  Walter  Allen,  Treasurer; 
Mrs.  John  C.  Gaut,  Mrs.  W.  J.  McMurray,  Mrs.  Thom- 
as M.  Steger,  Mrs.  J.  G  Buntin.  (Mrs.  Lindsley  ex- 
piring July  5,  1903,  Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook  was  elected  Re- 
gent and  Miss  Louise  G.  Lindsley  a  director.) 

Elected  May  17,  J905.— Mrs.  Ivlary  C.  Dorris,  Regent ; 
Mrs.  M.  S.  Cockrill,  First  Vice  Regent;  Miss  Louise 
G.  Lindsley,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  J.  Walter  Allen, 
Secretarj^;  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove,  Treasurer;  Mrs.  W.  J. 
McMurray,  Mrs.  Thomas  M.  Steger,  Mrs.  J.  C  Buntin, 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook. 

Elected  May  15,  1907. — Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris,  Re- 
gent; iMrs.  J.  Walter  Allen,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  A. 
M.  Shook,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Walter  Allen, 
Secretary;  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove,  Treasurer;  Mrs.  !M.  S. 
Cockrill,  Mrs.  Thomas  M.  Steger,  Mrs.  B.  F.  Wilson, 
Mrs.  Joseph  W.  Ford. 

Elected  May  19,  1909. — Miss  Louise  G.  Lindsley,  Re- 
gent ;  Mrs.  J.  Walter  Allen,  First  Vice  Regent ;  Mrs.  A. 
M.  Shook,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris, 


'Appendix.  221 

Secretary;  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove,  Treasurer;  Mrs.  M.  S. 
Cockrill,  iMrs.  Cleves  Symmes,  Mrs.  B.  F.  Wilson,  Mrs. 
Joseph  M.  Ford.  (Mrs.  M.  S.  Cockrill  expired  in  1910, 
and  Mrs.  D.  Shelby  Williams  was  elected  director.) 

Elected  May  J/,  ipii.— Miss  Louise  G.  Lindsley,  Re- 
gent; Mrs.  J.  Walter  Allen,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs. 
B.  F.'  Wilson,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C  Dor- 
ris,  Secretary-;  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove,  Treasurer;  Mrs. 
J.  Cleves  Symmes,  ^Irs.  John  C.  Brown,  Mrs.  A.  M. 
Shook,  Mrs.  James  H.  Campbell. 

Elected  May  21,  191 3.— Urs.  B.  F.  Wilson,  Regent; 
Miss  Louise  G.  Lindsley,  First  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  A. 
M.  Shook,  Second  Vice  Regent;  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris, 
Secretary;  Mrs.  P.  H.  Manlove,  Treasurer;  Miss  Car- 
rie Sims,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Henry,  Mrs.  Bettie  M.  Donelson, 
Mrs.  Maggie  L.  Hicks. 

The  following  gentlemen  have  served  on  the 
Board  of  Trustees: 

Ex-Gov.  John  C  Brown;*  L.  F.  Benson;*  Ex-Gov. 
James  D.  Porter;*  Dr.  D.  F.  Porter,*  Memphis;  Hon. 
Julian  A.  Trousdale;*  Hon.  E.  S.  Mallory,*  Jackson; 
Gen.  John  A.  Fite,  Lebanon;  Hon.  A.  C.  Floyd,  Chat- 
tanooga; Judge  H.  H.  Ingersoll,  Knoxville;  Gen.  W. 
H.  Jackson;*  W.  R.  French;*  Dr.  J.  Berrien  Linds- 
ley;* Gen.  John  F.  Wheless;*  Judge  J.  M.  Dickinson; 
Dr.  Thomas  A.  Atchison;*  Hon.  James  M.  Head;  Nat 
Baxter,  Jr.;*  Gen.  G.  P.  Thruston;*  Gen.  J.  W.  Lewis, 
Paris;  Percy  Warner;  Col.  A.  M.  Shook;  Hon.  John 
W.  Gaines;  John  M.  Gray,  Jr.;  Ex-Senator  James  B. 
Frazier,  Chattanooga;  Hon.  Sam  G.  Heiskell,  Knox- 
ville; Lewis  R.  Donelson,  Memphis. 

*Deceased. 


